Untold burdens
by Sassafras1009
Summary: As a new school year begins, Adrien and Marinette gain a new classmate. Adrien and Marinette both know her in their own way. This girl is different from the others, she isn't afraid to stand up to Chloe, but they say the brightest smiles hide the deepest hurts. Can her classmates help her or will she perish? No Miraculous AU. M for mature themes, mentions of suicide, and self harm.
1. The run in

**AN and Disclaimer:** I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or the characters from the cartoon its self. The only character I own in here is my own original character. This is an idea that came to me recently while discussing different orientations with a friend. It got me thinking how difficult it is to be different and not a different that people can readily see. Most people know of the LGBT community, but did you know there's also an asexual community? Yep! And I'm part of it. I am in the asexual spectrum of orientation. The challenges that character faces in this story are all of the challenges I faced as a teenager and young adult. Yep, it's real, the struggle is real, the discrimination is real. The _hate_ is real. Let's make everyone's life simple and just follow one simple rule: don't assume. All of that said, if you want some insight into what I'm talking about, please keep on reading I'm always happy to share. :)

* * *

Marinette growled to herself in frustration as she ran out of the bakery door, grabbing a croissant as she ran past and headed off towards her school. First day of school and she was going to be late! She guessed she was still a bit jet lagged from the trip to Shenghai over the summer vacation, even still how could she have been so careless as to sleep in on the first day?

She was running so fast she collided with someone else. All she saw was a yellow flash as the other person also fell to the ground.

"Ugh! Seriously?! You just got grass stains all over my outfit, Mari-trash," Chloe's shrill scream echoed in Marinette's ears.

"I didn't mean to Chloe, really," Marinette quickly moved to help Chloe gather her things only for Chloe to shove her back onto the ground.

The blonde haired bully towered over her as she screamed, "Do you have any idea how much this outfit costs?!"

"Too much for a school environment apparently," came a calm, even toned female voice from behind Chloe. Marinette recognized the brunette hair, bright blue eyes, angular jawline, not to mention the girl's fashion choice. She'd always been very androgynous and today was no different.

The brunette girl was dressed in running shoes, torn skinny blue jeans with a silver chain link belt, and a grey tank top she covered up by wearing a white, pink and orange button down sleeveless top over the grey tank top. The brunette continued without caution, "Let me guess, your daddy bought you that outfit and to show you're above everyone here you wear it to school every day right? Get over yourself Chloe Bourgeois. In the grand scheme of things, your Dad's a small fry on the political scale and don't even think of trying to tell me who your Daddy is, I already know. I also know that _you_ know who my grandfather is and if your Daddy throws his weight around to cater to your spoiled brat antics while I'm at school here, I'll make sure what happened _last time_ becomes a _permanent_ solution. Those of us privy to our life style shouldn't dominate our peers but use our influence to assist them as needed. I would've thought last time was enough of a lesson for you. Clearly you do follow the blonde stereotype."

Chloe visibly ground her teeth at the brunette's words before spinning on her heels and shoving the girl.

"What crack in the pavement did you come up from Lynette?! I thought you died in that accident," Chloe spat out.

The girl barely moved at Chloe's shove due to the power stance she'd taken in preparation for the blonde's attack. She gave a coy smile as she revealed, "Don't believe everything you read in the tabloids, Bourgeois. That aside, do I have an assault case against you now? Why, I do believe I do." Lynette had a mischevious gleam to her eye.

"Although, I may be nice and let it slide, if you leave this scene, right _now_ ," Lynette offered.

Chloe grumbled to herself as she gathered up her books and ran into class.

Lynette crouched down to help Marinette with her books, blushing a little as she gave a slight sigh and offered an apology, "I'm sorry about her. Believe it or not she wasn't always like this but power messes with some people's heads."

Marinette nodded a bit as she responded, "I guess your grandfather's work and Mayor Bourgeois' work is how you know Chloe. Still doesn't explain something though, why did you stick up for me?"

Lynette offered a kind-hearted smile to Marinette as the two of them stood up, "because I witnessed what happened. Neither of you were without fault in that collision. She loves walking around with her nose in the air and not paying attention to people around her. She's got to grow up and learn she can't be that way. Nobody's going to cater to you your entire life because you know someone rich, famous, powerful, or any combination of the three. Who _we_ are as individuals, regardless of social status, is what gives us respect and resources if we need them."

Her smile fell a little bit as she thought to herself, _'besides I know what it's like to be bullied and nobody stand up for you.'_

She quickly plastered the same smile back on her face as she told Marinette, "I gotta run."

She headed off down the hall towards her own class.

 _'Lynette, why did you lose your smile? I'll have to find out later'_ Marinette thought to herself as she entered her classroom, apologizing to the teacher for being late.

"There's one seat left, so I guess you'll have to take it," The teacher stated in response.

Marinette headed over to the vacant seat promptly dropping her books and tripping over her feet when she realized where this seat was. It was Nino's old seat, right next to Adrien!


	2. I'm not interested

The first half of the day seemed to drag on for Marinette, everytime she was called upon to answer a question she'd fumble over her words and end up embarrassing herself, even worse is Adrien was right there to see her blushing fiercely, if she tried to hide her face in her arms, the teacher called her out.

By the time lunch rolled around Marinette felt like she'd gone ten rounds with a champion kick boxer, she was beyond ready to go home. Currently she was sitting on a school bench drawing in her sketch book when her ears picked up on the commotion.

"C'mon, just one date that's all I'm asking," a male voice pleaded.

"I keep telling you: I'm. Not. Interested," Lynette replied slowly, her voice getting louder with each syllable, she moved to the left to try to leave, the guy blocked her.

"Why not? You don't know me, I want to get to know you. You're really pretty you know," The guy stated.

' _Ugh! That's creepy,'_ The blunette thought to herself as she quickly put her sketch book and pencil away and began making her way over to them, she hadn't seen two guys from her class heading over as well. She saw Lynette try to move to her right to get away from the guy, again he mimicked her movement and kept her blocked in.

"I'm not going to leave until you say 'yes'. I don't bite, I promise," the guy pressed, invading the brunette's personal space a bit more as he leaned into her.

A fist slammed against the wall next to the guy's head. Lynette's attention turned to a familiar blonde with emerald eyes. Normally a very kind and friendly facial expression was replaced with a fiercely enraged expression as the Agreste boy stared the black haired male down.

"I don't bite either – I punch and kick. Which is exactly what I'll do to your pathetic ass if you don't lay off," Adrien warned him. The guy chuckled a bit as he turned back to look at Lynette only to be met with the broad chest of Kim as he stood blocking the guy's path.

"Adrien isn't the only one sickened by you," Kim added, past Kim the black haired boy could clearly make out Nino, Alya, Max and Alix, the four of them had formed a perimeter around Lynette, keeping her clear away from the black haired boy.

The guy smirked at Lynette before kissing his index and middle finger then showing the same two fingers to Lynette conceding, "You win this round. I'll see you in class."

' _I gonna puke,'_ Lynette thought to herself as she felt the bile creeping up her throat, instinctively her left hand came up to her mouth as she swallowed forcefully

Adrien saw the colour draining from Lynette's face and asked, "Are you okay?"

Lynette pushed Alix away as the contents of her stomach erupted from her mouth.

' _Answers that,'_ Alix thought as she held Lynette's hair back. Alya gently rubbed the vomiting girl's back while Nino, Kim, Max, and Adrien acted as a human curtain, careful to keep far enough back that the vomit wouldn't get on their shoes.

When Lynette stopped vomiting she instantly felt her face flush with embarrassment. Max offered Lynette his hankercheif, which she gratefully accepted wiping her mouth.

"I'll wash it and give it back tomorrow, Max," Lynette offered.

Then a thought occurred to her as she looked to Max, "Why'd you come over? You're not a towering house like Kim, or trained in Martial arts like Adrien?"

Max straightened his glasses as he replied, "True. But if all I could do was act as a human shield to keep him from getting close to you then I'm willing to do so. Nobody should be intimidated like that. It isn't right."

The girls nodded in agreement with Max as Marinette joined them.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, Lynette," Marinette apologized.

Lynette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "No need to apologize, Marinette. I'm just embarrassed by all of this."

Adrien shrugged a bit, "It's no problem. Just disgusts me when I see that kind of stuff. Some guys can't take a hint. Speaking as a guy the trouble with some guys is they have two heads… and they think with the wrong one."

Lynette's face scrunched up in confusion before she hesitantly admitted, "I—uhh- I'm-I'm not following you. What do you mean?"

Adrien flushed a little at the thought of explaining it more clearly.

"Well the tip of the penis is often referred to as 'the head'. In this instance, referring to the small head or the 'wrong head' meaning the male thinks with his penis, not the head which houses the brain and actual cognitive thought," Max offered.

"Oh," Lynette replied, seeming to understand Max's explanation.

"I'll walk you to class, or the nurse's office, whichever," Kim offered Lynette.

"I don't want to trouble anyone," Lynette refuted.

"It's no trouble. I'll even join Kim in walking you to class," Marinette chimed in.

"Besides, your teacher should know what happened," Adrien pointed out.

"Right," Lynette replied, rubbing the back of her head under her chestnut locks.

'Why is she feeling so guilty about all of this? It isn't her fault,' Marinette thought to herself as she watched Lynette's body language.

Nino decided to add in another point, "If your teacher knows then she can let your parents and that boy's parents k—"

"No! No my parents cannot know," Lynette interrupted, her voice was nearly shouting. The group blinked as they looked at Lynette wide eyed.

"Lyn, you could get attacked outside of school if something isn't done," Adrien coaxed.

'That's probably the plan,' Lynette thought to herself as she squeezed her eyes shut. She broke away from the group and ran towards the school entrance.

The group stayed quiet for a bit before Alya broke the silence asking, "did that seem like a strange reaction to anyone else or is it just me?"

"I wonder what's got her so scared about her parents knowing," Nino voiced his thoughts.

"If it were me Maman and Papa would definitely want to know," Marinette agreed.

"Yeah but—" Adrien stopped himself and thought for a moment, none seemed to notice that Kim followed Lynette after he spotted the black haired boy heading back into the school as well.


	3. group texting

Kim found Lynette as the black haired boy advanced on her again he didn't think, he acted. Running he quickly placed himself between the aggressor and Lynette.

"You don't take hints well do you? I'm saying this one last time: back off," Kim growled out.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but—" the boy started.

"Le Chien Kim," Kim stated as he stared the black haired boy down. Lynette couldn't figure out why this guy was thinking he stood a chance, Kim towered over him and easily out muscled him.

"I've known Lynette since pre-school. If you think I'm going to just stand aside and let you harass her, you need your head examined," the athlete added.

Lynette blinked a bit at that statement, she had never regarded Kim as anything other than a classmate and now she was afraid to begin a friendship with him.

"Look, Le Chien, maybe you don't realize this, but her mom actually wants her to date me," The boy revealed with a grin.

"She's just being stubborn about it," He concluded.

"Pick you up at 6?"

Lynette rolled her eyes as she replied, "Will you rot in a hole?"

A mature masculine voice demanded, "What is going on in here?"

Kim wasn't sure how to respond to that question as he glared the boy down, he didn't care if he got expelled he wasn't going to move from his spot.

"Kim here can't keep his hands off my girlfriend," the black haired boy lied.

"Right and I'm a unicorn," Lynette shot back while slapping her hand to her forehead.

Mr. Damocles regarded the situation before looking directly at the black haired boy, "Sebastien, come with me. Kim, stay with her until her teacher arrives?"

"Sure thing Mr. Damocles," Kim agreed.

Adrien, Marinette and Alya filed in after Mr. Damocles left the room with Sebastien.

Kim ran his hands over his face as he turned around and faced Lynette, "Alright, from the top, what is happening?"

Lynette scowled a bit as she looked at the ground, playing with her chain belt a little.

"Lynnie?"

Lynette pulled her lower lip between her teeth, gently biting it as she played with some strands of long hair, he hadn't called her Lynnie since they'd first met and she just realized maybe he'd meant it as an affectionate nickname for her. The thought terrified her and made her stomach twist while her chest felt like a vice was gripping her internal organs, squeezing.

"Lynette, if you tell us what's going on, we can probably help," Marinette pressed.

Lynette's eyes became watery as she looked to the ground and shook her head 'no'.

"What do you mean 'no'? Don't tell me your parents wouldn't care," Alya retorted and instantly regretted making that statement when Lynette's shoulders began to slightly quiver, droplets of water falling onto her shoes .

"School's hell, home's the seventh circle of hell," Lynette stated before running from the room.

Panicked by the behavior Kim and Marinette raced after her, followed closely by Adrien and Alya.

* * *

Marinette flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom. It had been a long day for sure. She was grateful to Lynette for standing up for her, so grateful she hadn't thought twice about heading off to find a teacher when she'd see Sebastien cornering Lynette. She and Alya had found Lynette in the girl's washroom crying. Though they tried to console her, she still wouldn't budge about what was wrong, but she had accepted Marinette and Alya's phone numbers in case she needed to talk to someone, Alya had made a point of getting Kim's number as well. Marinette glanced at her phone when she heard the text alert and picked it up looking at the message, Alya had started a group conversation with herself, Nino, Adrien and Kim.

Alya: Okay guys, dish it out what do we know about Lynette?

Adrien : well, I know her through my Dad's work actually. Her mom is a rival fashion designer and one of the only ones who could actually compete with the Gabriel Brand.

Nino: Dude! You mean she's actually rich and famous too?

Adrien : Bro, don't go there. That's not even the best of it. Her dad's a producer at a recording studio and her Uncle is famous too. Her grandfather is the President of France.

Marinette blinked at the texts before sending one herself.

Marinette: I honestly don't know her too well. I know that she was being home schooled last year because of some sort of accident that happened. Something about rock climbing.

Kim had been typing for a while and finally his message came up.

Kim: I've known her since pre-school. My Dad went to school with her Dad and we've always been cool with each other, but I don't know her too well either. I can read her a bit though and I can tell you this much, it isn't like her to cry. I've seen that girl fall off of monkey bars, break her arm, she shattered her femur two summers ago and had to go through a year of physio therapy… not a single tear. For her to cry at all is unsettling.

Marinette: whoa!

Adrien : anything else?

Kim:…

Alya: Kim, if you don't tell us I will put a spider in your locker tomorrow!

Kim: Okay! Okay! Man she's gonna hate me when she finds out.

Marinette raised a brow as she watched that Kim was typing for a while before he finally sent the message.

Kim: The "accident" wasn't an accident.

Nino: Dude, how could you be sure?

Kim: … Because I'm the one that found her.

Kim: Like I said, we've never been especially close, but I do care. I knew something was really off when I got away from Track and Field and saw that I had six missed calls and six texts from her. The last text gave me a clue, so I went to the spot we'd rock climb with our Dads. It was a failed suicide attempt and she's been in therapy since, her doctors keep putting her on different medication but honestly, I don't think that'll help.

Alya: okay, so then what would?

Kim: I don't know. I guess, acceptance is what she's really after…. But acceptance for what I don't know.

Marinette bit her lip a little before typing out a message.

Marinette: Delete this conversation afterwards so nobody else sees this and a rumour comes of it. But I'm wondering, do you think she might be Lesbian?

Kim: I don't know. I've never seen her checking out girls, that much I'd notice. Hell, I'd start checking them out with her! Lol

Adrien : lol who wouldn't?

Nino: Dude, bromance without the testosterone. I'd be game lol

Alya: Boys. Why did you wonder that though, Mari?

Marinette: It's just something I kind of heard before I waved Mr. Damocles to the room.

Kim: yeah, that her mom actually wants her to date that jerk.

Adrien : WHAT?! Seriously!? Forget Lynette seeing a doctor her mom needs one.

Alya: well that explains why she thinks of home as the seventh circle of hell.

Kim: I don't think she's gay, but Marinette might be onto something. There's definitely something going on that her parents don't approve of and want to change, but I don't think Lynette can change it.

Adrien : oh man!

Nino: Dude?

Adrien : Put it this way, as an average kid it's a strain at times to measure up to your parents expectations. When you're a kid like Lyn and myself? That pressures' increased. Every single thing you do ends up in the tabloid if someone's snooping. If the paparazzi want a scoop, they'll get it and twist it however they want.

Marinette: that's a lot of pressure for one person. No wonder she seems so stressed out.

Alya: Well, I for one, am going to get to the bottom of this. But we need to figure out some type of buddy system. If what Kim's told us is true, we can't chance a repeat and it being successful.

Marinette: We're going to need more of us with our own schedules the way they are.

Kim: I'll get Max and Alix in on it, I'm sure they'd be willing.

Alya: I'll talk to Nathanael see if he's willing to keep an eye out as well.

Adrien : Probably goes without saying but I will anyways, keep Chloe and Sabrina out of it. Chloe was basically silently bullying her all day.

Marinette: you know it really was strange to see her break down and cry like that. This morning when I was running late for school, I literally ran into Chloe. She tried to start a fight over grass stains on her white pants. Lynette stood up to her and broke up the fight. I guess that's why seeing her so scared and so frail was shocking to me.

Kim: That's Lynnie for you. She doesn't think about herself when someone else is going through something. She'll focus her energy on getting them through it.

Adrien : For someone who claims to "not be close" you seem to know her quite well.

Kim: Like i said, our Dads went to school together. We grew up with our parents being friends.

Marinette chewed the inside of her cheek a little before climbing down from the loft and heading over to her computer, she began searching what she knew and found pages upon pages of depression and psychiatric symptoms, nothing seemed to really fit with what she already knew though. The conversation continued without her, but the blunette's attention wasn't on her phone anymore.


	4. wardrobe change

Marinette looked at the time on her phone once again, scarcely believing it. She was a full thirty minutes early to school today.

She spotted Alya talking with Nino and Adrien. The bespeckled brunette waved her friend over. Marinette smiled as she ran towards their small group, greeting them all, "Hey, how's everything going?"

"Well," Adrien began.

"No one's seen Lynette yet," Alya offered.

"She could just be running late," Nino suggested.

Marinette thought about yesterday and nodded, "Possibly. I mean she did actually arrive to the school grounds about the same time I did yesterday."

"I am not continuing this argument with you, Lynette. Out of the car, now," A red haired woman ordered.

From where she stood, Marinette could clearly make out that this woman had the same eye colour and shape as Lynette, she could also tell that the woman was impatient bordering on furious.

"Lynette Marie Montclair, out of the car this minute. We are finding Sebastien and you are accepting his date proposal," She continued.

"I am not going on a date with him," Lynette's voice shouted.

"Yes you are. I am picking the two of you up at y our Lunch break and you will eat together in public and you will be affectionate towards him," Mrs. Montclair stated as she gripped her daughter's arm.

"I. will. Not. Date. Him. I don't want to date anyone! Just leave me alone," Lynette screamed as the woman wrenched her from the car.

"Enough of this! You're behaving like a spoiled child. Look at the scene you're causing. Just do as you're told and that is final. Go and find your boyfriend,"

Lynette bit her lip harshly enough to draw blood, she couldn't help it. It was either make her lip bleed or cry. She wasn't about to cry.

At the sight the woman threw her hands up in the air, "Well I guess your winter break will be spent in another institution until you let go of this foolish notion. God. I just wanted a normal child!"

The woman got into the white limousine and it drove off with her in it, leaving Lynette on the side walk, looking very much like a broken china doll.

Almost instantly after the limo had left Adrien rushed to Lynette as did Kim from another area of the school grounds.

Adrien crouched down next to Lynette while Kim regarded her for a moment. She was dressed in a very girly manner, too girly for Lynette's taste, that much was evident. She was wearing a pink and white floral print skirt, a pink cup sleeved shirt and white heeled sandals.

Adrien was wracking his brain trying to think of something to say. When nothing came to him, he moved to grasp her shoulder only for her to shrug away from him.

Kim knelt next to her and looked over the outfit before looking to Lynette, "did you bring a change of clothes with you?"

"She searched my bag," Lynette replied, almost sounding robotic. Kim blanched, that wasn't a good sign. He'd heard that tone before and it was never good. Adrien glanced at Marinette, pleadingly. The two girls were about the same size.

Marinette smiled a bit as she realized his thought and offered, "Hey, my house is just across the street, why don't we go get you into something you're more comfortable with? You can even change back at my place too. I'll even make some clothes just for you to wear as well in emergencies, just tell what you like to wear."

Lynette hesitated before glancing to Marinette and nodding a little, "Okay."

She wasn't robotic with that single word reply, but she still sounded hollow and Kim wondered what had happened behind closed doors when she went home. He knew her father was currently working at the studio a lot which meant Lyn was home with her mom a lot.

The two women never saw eye to eye, never had. Kim knew this, he also knew that both women were equally stubborn but the elder woman would often use physical force to get her way.

"Yeah, you'll like Marinette's parents, they're really nice," Adrien added with a smile as he coaxed Lynette to sit up.

' _Nice isn't exactly what I need right now. Nice is exactly what'll break me,'_ Lynette thought to herself.

Marinette and Lynette made their way back over to her parent's bakery, Kim and Adrien had gone over with them.

"You're back so soon Marinette? Did you forget some-" Sabine stopped when she caught sight of Lynette. She stopped mixing the batter she'd been working on, setting the mixing bowl down and ran over to the disheveled girl.

Looking over Lynette with the concerned caring gaze of a loving mother only made Lynette's eyes well up once more as the stranger she'd just met asked her, "sweetheart, what happened?"

The dam broke and tears began to pour from Lynette's eyes. Sabine instinctively pulled the girl into her arms and stroked her hair as the girl sobbed into her shirt.

"Let it out," Sabine soothed.

"It's pointless," Lynette squeaked out between sobs.

Sabine blinked a little.

"I just want to be happy, but that's too much," Lynette added as her body shook.

Marinette felt her own eyes tearing up at the revelation. Kim felt his own heart sink to the soles of his shoes. He knew things were bad between her and her mom but he hadn't thought it was this bad. Gently he reached out to her, placing a hand on her back. Adrien grasped Lynette's shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze while Marinette gently grasped Lynette's hand, squeezing it.

Sabine smiled at the gestures the other teenagers made towards the crying girl as she suggested, "It seems there are those who wish to see you happy."

Lynette's sobs slowed as she dried her eyes, "sorry. Marinette was going to let me borrow some clothes."

Sabine nodded, "alright. Come on over for lunch, we'll talk then."

"I-I ca-can't," Lynette choked out.

Sabine blinked for a moment before smiling and recommending, "Alright, how about you girls study together after school, at least that's what we'll tell your parents?"

Lynette looked to Marinette who smiled and nodded, "sounds like a good plan, Maman. We'd best hurry though."

She raced upstairs to her room, with Lynette following closely behind her. Kim made a point of looking away as she ascended the stairs, so Adrien followed his lead.

Once the door to Marinette's room was closed, Sabine turned to the two teen boys and inquired, "What on earth happened to that poor girl?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "We don't really know everything."

"Then tell me what you do know. This is serious. It's got recipe for disaster written all over it," Sabine insisted.

Kim swallowed hard and looked to Sabine, "where do you want to start? Yesterday or two summers ago?"

"For the record, you seem to be the only adult that actually cares right now," Adrien added.

Kim nodded, "Except Mr. Damocles but I don't know if he'll do anything. The previous principal thought something was going on too but they didn't report anything."

This caught Tom's full attention as he set the freshly baked croissants on the counter and walked over asking, "Is she being abused?"

"In a way, I guess? I'm not really sure what to call it," Kim offered with a shrug.

The two parents were about to say something else when the door opened and Lynette headed back down wearing a pair of dark wash blue jeans, which had a chain belt around the waist. The pink cup sleeved shirt was replaced with a plain white tshirt that had some purple flowers along the left side of the shirt.

The colour choice hadn't surprised Kim at all, she'd always liked purple. He smiled when he saw her, seeing that Marinette had also helped her touch up her make up.

"Feel a bit better?"

Lynette nodded, grateful that the foundation hid some of her blush, "Yes. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble at all," Tom answered.

"Our door is open to you anytime. If you ever need someone, and the bakery's closed, just keep knocking, we'll hear it," He offered.

Lynette blinked a little but gave a warm smile before leaving the bakery, Kim next to her.

"Thank you Maman, Papa," Marinette called to her parents.

"Marinette, keep an eye out for her," Tom called after his daughter.

Marinette nodded as she followed Lyn and Kim. Adrien offered her parents a quick smile before following Marinette out.


	5. You're not broken

Lunchtime rolled around too fast for Lynette's liking and suddenly Sebastien was grabbing her hand and leading her out of the school to wait for her mother. Lynette felt her skin crawling at the unwanted physical contact but did her best to conceal her disgust.

Suddenly her phone went off, and she smiled as she read the text, "My mom can't make it. Her morning meetings ran late and now she's behind on overseeing the winter collection."

Sebastien audibly growled before smirking, "well, no matter we'll just have to go to that bakery and get us some delicious pie for our date."

Lynette wrenched her hand away from him before she shouted in his face, "look, I'm going to say this one last time before I go to the police about it. You, my parents, everyone can back off. I'm not interested in dating you, Enrique, or any other model, or person for that matter that they can come up with!"

"So who are you after then? A peasant? Your parents would love that," Sebastien sneered.

"Why don't you look up Chloe Bourgeois. Your personalities are completely in sync," Lynette scoffed as she turned her back and walked from the raven haired boy.

This however infuriated him as he grasped her wrist tightly and bellowed, "I own you!"

"I'm a person, not an object or a piece of property you can claim," Lynette shot back as she tried to tug her wrist free only to realize he was holding her tightly enough to cause pain. She could almost feel her wrist breaking.

"Hands to yourself!" A voice called out.

Glancing at the direction of the new voice Lynette wasn't surprised to see Marinette standing there, Adrien, Kim, Nino, and a red haired boy were also with her.

"This doesn't concern you," Sebastien growled as he yanked Lynette closer to himself.

"It's between a couple," He added with an egotistical smile.

"That's a lie if I ever heard one," Nathanael stated.

"What?"

"Man, give it up. She isn't interested, clearly. I get that it hurts ya know. I've been there, and done that, I'd do it again. That's because if you really do care about her, then her happiness comes before yours," Nathanael added.

Sebastien beared his teeth and squeezed Lynette's wrist more.

"You're really hurting me. Let go," Lynette begged almost whimpering as she tried to shake his grip lose.

Adrien grasped Sebastien's wrist and squeezed as tight as he could.

Sebastien hissed in pain as he glared at the blonde male.

"I own her!"

"She isn't yours to claim," Adrien stated as he maintained his grip.

"The longer you hurt her, the longer I'm going to hurt you. Let go," Adrien ordered.

Marinette blinked at the sight, she'd never known Adrien had a dark side to him but this wasn't exactly a situation anyone had ever found themselves in before.

"What is going on here?" An adult's voice asked.

Turning around they saw Ms. Bustier with her hands crossed over her chest and an angry scowl on her face. Horror wiped over her expression as she realized what was happening and she hastily ordered, "Adrien let go of him, now, and you Sebastien, unhand her!"

Sebastien let go of Lynette's wrist, glaring daggers at Adrien while Adrien let go of the dark haired boy's arm.

Lynette gently rubbed her wrist while Kim wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to himself.

"Are you alright?" He asked, offering his hand to inspect her throbbing limb.

Lynette shrugged, the fear, pain and hurt erased from her facial features.

"I don't want you going home alone, or anywhere," Kim stated as he watched her wrist.

"Ms. Montclair, are you hurt?" Ms. Bustier asked as she approached the two friends.

"Just my wrist hurts a little, nothing big," Lynette replied with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Eyeing the wrist, Ms. Bustier announced, "You're bruising quite severely. We'll have to get that checked, make sure it isn't broken."

"I-uhh, no it's okay. I'll just put some ice on it," Lynette objected, looking to Marinette, "your parents have ice?"

"Probably," Marinette replied.

She looked to Ms. Bustier, "I'm first-aid certified, Ms. Bustier, if it's alright I'll over see her treatment."

Ms. Bustier nodded, "Alright, Marinette but if she needs medical attention we'll have to send her."

"Yes Miss," Marinette replied as the group of friends headed over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Sabine almost gasped out loud when she saw the bruising showing up on Lynette's wrist and quickly readied an ice pack bringing it over with a towel.

"Thanks, but really I prefer the cold," Lynette replied, refusing the towel.

"Don't be silly, you'll get frost bite that way," Sabine insisted.

"It's fine," Lynette affirmed, not allowing the towel back in between the ice pack and her skin.

"Lynnie, we want to help," Kim started.

"There's nothing anyone can do," Lynette stated.

"You don't know that," Adrien challenged.

"I know people through my father, and Marinette has connections through her own talents. Talk to us, Lynette. This isn't like you and frankly you're really beginning to scare me," Adrien insisted.

"Yeah, and don't forget your grandfather, one of the most powerful men in France. He thinks the world of you, do you really believe that he'd want you to hurt like this? Talk to us," Kim pleaded.

Lynette took three deep, shaky breaths before snapping, "Don't you think I know that?"

"God! It isn't like I haven't thought of calling him, okay? I have! But I begged to be allowed back this year, last year away from you was torture, I can't go through another four or five years of that," Lynette admitted a few tears coming down her cheeks.

"You're the first one that ever saw me and just took me for who I am, Kim. That means more than you could imagine. I don't have to girl myself up, I don't have to fake being something I'm not. I don't have to lie, I don't have to sing, I don't have to show off my body. I can just be me with you, I can't lose that, not now," Lynette exploded as her breathing came out in hot huffs of air.

Marinette gently moved some of Lynette's hair out of her face as she said, "Lynette what's going on?"

"Lynnie," Kim started before hesitating. He rubbed the back of his neck and swallowed a bit of saliva in his throat before asking, "are you into girls?"

"That'd be easier, actually," Lynette answered with her voice breaking towards the end of the sentence.

"At least people understand that. People get it. People find out what I am and just think I'm broken. I'm depressed. I must need medication. Maybe I was raped, best throw me into therapy. That's not working? Oh let's change the medication, up the dosage, and throw in more therapy sessions a week," Lynette rambled with a scowl on her face.

"That still doesn't work? I'm just being stubborn, let's force a relationship on her and she'll let go of that ideal. Let's tell her that it's okay to let a guy take care of her. Let's tell her she's going to end up poor if she tries to take care of herself, that'll 'fix' things," Lynette continued.

"Every single day I wish I could just die. Everywhere you look, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. I'm sick of it. I want to gauge my eyes out everytime I see a sexy commercial. You know what my mom tells me when I change the channel while those are playing? She tells me not to be a prude," Lynette admitted.

"She always wants me in two pieces for photo shoots. In all honesty I'd rather wear a one piece. I'd rather wear jeans and plaid shirts, tank tops. Not 'girly enough' how will I ever get a boyfriend? Every single day since I turned thirteen has been hell, I'm turning sixteen in the winter, that gives you an idea. Nearly three years now, every single time a guy crossed my path, 'Isn't he cute Lynette?' Uhh, maybe? I don't know, is a waterfall 'cute'? Same difference to me," the brunette revealed.

Nino's eyes were shifting left to right as he processed her ranting as he asked, "So you don't dig dudes or chicks?"

"Bingo, man I'd love to give you a prize, but unfortunately I'm too much of a liability to have any kind of sway in my parents' businesses. Sorry. If you ever need background vocals on a track though, let me know. Been doing that for a while," Lynette grumbled.

Kim blinked a little and suddenly things began to click. Right up until they were thirteen Lynette had been happy, and not worried about much of anything. After they turned thirteen she began to show that she wasn't happy anymore.

"I'm asexual," Lynette confirmed, "and my parents want me to be straight, so they keep trying to force it on me. Nice of them, huh? I get to hear every single day, 'When you start dating', 'when you get a boyfriend', 'when you get proposed to' 'when you get married'. When purple elephants fly with a yellow polka-dot umbrella!"

Nathanael blinked as the girl vented her pent up frustration. This was a lot for anyone to go through, he'd heard some similar things from his LGBT friends but he never once heard of anyone being asexual before.

"You're not broken," He stated as he sat across from her, "you're different, but different isn't good or bad, it's just different."

"Tell my parents that," Lynette pleaded as her voice cracked and fresh tears made their way down her face.

"I mean really. Sebastien terrifies me because if he tried to force things I really don't think my parents would stop it, or file a report, or anything. They want it to happen to 'cure me'. It's just sick… but every way out that I can think of either means I start over with absolutely no friends, get bullied like I was at all of the after school groups I went to last year, or I kill myself," Lynette concluded.

"That isn't an option," Sabine objected, Marinette glanced over at her mother not even recognizing that the objection had come from her. Sabine's usual delicate tone was harsh and nearly combative.

"You're sixteen in the winter, you can apply for full emancipation from your parents," Sabine recommended.

"I'd need my own lawyer, pro-bono. My parents have seized control over my bank account," Lynette shared.

"Then when you're ready, you can call me," Sabine offered with a gentle smile.

Marinette blinked in shock while the rest of her classmates watched the bakery co-owner with surprised gaping mouths.

"I stopped practicing law just before we had Marinette, but I still know quite a few civil rights lawyers. You just tell me when and I'll make it happen," Sabine clarified.

Adrien gently nudged Lynette's side, "Told you Mari's parents were nice, didn't I?"

Lynette offered a small smile, and removed the ice pack from her wrist. The bruising had stopped but her skin was bright red from the coldness of the ice.

"Oh my gosh," Marinette whispered moving to grab a towel.

Lynette grasped Marinette's sleeve and kept her close as she assured her, "I'll be fine.. My wrist just has to warm up that's all."

Kim raised an eyebrow at his childhood friend's reaction to her skin's condition as he voiced, "You're awfully calm for someone risking frost bite."

Lynette shrugged, "steady yourself for this Kim: It isn't the first time my skin's looked like this. But I figure scalding or freezing myself is better than cutting. Given what my mom has me model I can't really cut anywhere to feel alive so I burn myself or hold ice in my hands to remind myself I'm still a living person."

Marinette had known Kim through most of elementary school and wasn't at all surprised when the jock excused himself to the washroom, it was the first time she'd ever seen him shed a tear over something.


	6. An Emergency

Marinette sat at her computer reading over the content of a website she'd found on asexuality, it was actually fairly complex. While many asexuals didn't experience sexual attraction, a lot of them did experience romantic attraction of some kind, some didn't. Some only developed attraction to others once they formed a strong friendship with a person. In some ways Marinette almost wondered how Lynette was able to figure out that this was her sexual identity, there were so many aspects to it she found it a bit confusing.

" _At least you guys are taking it better than my parents did," Lynette said._

" _How did they react?" Tom had asked, he was now sitting next to Nathanael, watching the young brunette haired girl with a parent's caring gaze._

 _Lynette rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh as she responded, "what haven't they replied with? They said I can't be asexual because I'm not a starfish. Then they switched over to calling me a robot. Then I got asked if I was raped, when I denied it they forced me to be examined by a gynecologist. Then they concluded I wasn't raped but I must've been assaulted by someone, forced me into therapy and shoving pills down my throat. The pills actually made me depressed and that's why I—" she drifted off and bit her lip as she glanced to Kim._

" _I did something two summers ago. Worst part is the one person I felt I could reach out to I probably hurt in the process," Lynette admitted._

 _Kim shook his head and offered Lynette a smile as he revealed, "I was glad you did. I just wish I'd known all of this sooner."_

 _Nino looked to Tom as he asked, "So what do we do here, Mr. Dupain?"_

" _Right now, all we can do is offer support, and my prior offer still stands, Lynette. If you're ever feeling like you just need to get away even for a few minutes, that bakery door can be opened after store hours. Just knock," Tom answered._

 _Lynette nodded._

Adrien and Nathanael had both put their phone numbers into Lynette's phone, telling her to call or text anytime if she wasn't feeling well.

Marinette fit her lower lip, all of this was pretty good but it still wasn't resolving the main issue: Lynette still had to go home after school every day. She still had to face that every day, and what happened to her during the weekends? The first five weeks of school was nearly over and Marinette shuttered to think of what her new friend would endure over the weekend. They'd made progress in some marginal ways since the big scene her mom made at the first week, or was this just the calm before the storm? The thought was quickly pushed from her mind as she turned off her computer and crawled up the ladder. She shifted her pug, Tikki, over on her bed so she could climb in and sleep.

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Adrien's phone screen lit up and the device gave a long screeching meow. Adrien groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, pulling the pillow over his head to drown out the sound. The electronic gave another screeching meow, then another, and yet another.

The model's sleep drunk brain began to register what was happening. He was getting texts late at night, and he was pretty sure that whatever was being sent to him, it was urgent if they kept sending texts so fast.

Groggily he reached over to the night table and picked up his phone, glancing at the screen as he began to read the messages, what was showing up on his screen woke him up faster than a bucket of ice water being dumped onto his body.

He sat straight up in bed as he quickly reread the messages before quickly typing out a reply.

Unknown Number: Adrien I hope you're up.

Unknown Number: I don't know where I am. Last thing I remember was being at a shoot.

Unknown Number: It's Lynette

Unknown Number: I guess you're asleep, I'm sorry.

Adrien felt his blood run cold. She was texting him this late at night? Either she was suicidal or something was seriously wrong.

He began to text back but decided against it and dialed her number instead.

The line picked up but she didn't say anything, Adrien could faintly hear that she was indeed crying. The one thing that melted him faster than Marinette's smile was hearing or seeing a girl cry, he just couldn't handle it and had to make it right. In a calm soothing tone he greeted her, "I'm sorry Lynette. I was asleep but I'm awake now. Can you see any landmarks?"

"I don't know," Lynette replied as she glanced around she spotted what looked like a movie theater and told him as such.

In his mind Adrien began mentally trying to paint a picture of what she was seeing, as he quickly threw on a pair of jeans over the boxers he'd been sleeping in. He was fastening the belt as she mentioned a few other buildings, a smile crossed his face.

"I know where you are. Stay right there. The Gorilla and I are gonna come get you," Adrien stated as he grabbed the nearest shirt he could reach and quickly pulled it on, keeping the phone at his ear as he did so.

"Bring Nathalie too," Lynette requested.

Adrien paused for a moment before asking, "Why do we need Nathalie? I'm just picking you up and bringing you here for the night, right?"

"I should probably see a doctor," Lynette admitted.

Adrien felt his mouth go dry as a thought came to his mind, he wanted to ignore that thought. He wanted to tell himself he was being crazy that there was no way that had happened.

Cautious of his tone, Adrien asked her, "Lynette, what aren't you telling me?"

At this she began to break down, he could scarcely make out what she was saying, he thought she said that she was sore.

He sat on the edge of his bed, and coaxed her, "shh. You gotta take slow steady breaths. I'm not understanding right now. Slow deep breaths, relax, try to calm down."

"I-I'm sore- down there," Lynette whimpered in a coherent sentence.

Adrien's eyes clenched shut at the confession. Why? He was a model for a rival company but why hadn't he insisted on staying with her for her shoot? Why had they all just gone home and done their own thing? Why hadn't he sent the Gorilla or someone to check in on her? Why hadn't he suggested that Kim stop by her shoot after his practice? Why did this even happen? Her parents, that's why. Adrien felt his rage bubbling up in his chest, but what would've scared him if the situation were any different was that he was so angry he was actually calm.

"I'll bring Nathalie," Adrien stated, after what felt like a decade to the girl on the other end of the phone line.

He stood up and left his room making his way towards Nathalie's, "Just stay on the phone with me, keep talking. Weather, cats, your favourite food. I don't care, just keep talking so I know you're okay."

He listened to her talking about whatever came to mind as he knocked on Nathalie's door and mouthed, "emergency. We have to go."

Nathalie was confused for a moment before she nodded in agreement and closed her door. Briefly Adrien thought of how it was fortunate that Nathalie hadn't gone home that night. Some nights she did but when his father would have a particularily hectic day she stayed the night. He'd questioned why many times but now he was just plain grateful.

He then knocked on the Gorilla's door, the burly man whose torso seemed drastically disproportionate to his body grunted in response when Adrien mouthed, "emergency, let's go, now."

He then headed downstairs to wait for the two adults by the front of the mansion's doors, he slipped on his shoes not bothering to untie them and tie them back up again, he didn't usually and he knew he'd be scolded for it later. He didn't care. This wasn't running over to a friend's house, this was running to a friend's assistance.

He bit his lip a little as he quickly tapped on a button on his phone to bring up his home screen then texted Marinette and Alya.

Adrien: Meet me at Paris Saint-Joseph.

Adrien: It's an emergency.

Adrien: Lynette texted me just 10 minutes ago.

Adrien: SOS

Marinette: I'll wake Papa.

Alya: Girl, can you come get me? My mom will skin me if I try to wake her.

Marinette: Maybe you should stay home then, Alya?

Alya: … when you're right, you're right.

Ouch! Even as hard assed as his old man was given the situation he was sure he'd understand.

The Gorilla and Nathalie met Adrien in the front Foyer and he opened the door to the mansion as he spoke to the terrified girl, "We're leaving now, Lynette. We'll be there soon."

* * *

Lynette nodded, not trusting herself to speak only then realizing how foolish that gesture was, he couldn't see her! "Okay," she managed to force out.

The pain wasn't getting any worse but the discomfort was definitely real, she hadn't wanted this. Not even close to it. She'd wanted to die a virgin, how beautiful would that have been? But the way she felt, the fact that her stomach and back didn't hurt meant she didn't have her period, she knew that much, but she knew she had bled, that coupled with the pain meant only one thing far as she knew.

Her mind began to wander as she thought back on the the past weeks and realized she'd just finished her cycle the prior week, but she'd also needed to take an antibiotic for a mild bout of strep throat, she'd been on birth control to help with the pain of ovarian cysts for the past six months, but even she knew enough to know that antibiotics would reduce the effectiveness of birth control.


	7. Guardians

The doctor was pushing, prodding, probing, insisting he contact her parents. Lynette held her lower lip between her teeth before she repeatedly became louder as she refused, "No. I don't want them here."

Gabriel had called a head to the hospital and told them that his son was coming in with a friend, both of whom were to be addressed by fake names, and the girl's parents were not to be contacted.

"Sweetie, your parents have a right to know. They're your legal guardians," The doctor persisted.

Lynette couldn't contain the rage that boiled inside of her chest as she screamed in the doctor's face, "They don't deserve to know anything!"

The screaming and yelling had drawn Tom and Nathalie's attention as they forced their way into the hospital room, Tom using his parenting skills to calm Lynette while Nathalie informed the doctor that if he didn't desist he'd face harassment charges. The doctor insisted that he was acting in the best interest of a minor, to which Nathalie informed him he merely assumed he was acting in the best interests of a minor and that Lynette's best interests were already being addressed by a team of attourneys as well as former Attourney Sabine Cheng and Gabriel Agreste.

A nurse arrived at the door way with hospital security, "there they are! They barged in while the doctor was attempting to get support for the patient."

"No, no, no, no, no, no! He wasn't trying to help me at all," Lynette pleaded as the security guards grabbed Tom and Nathalie escorting them out of the room.

With her protectors out of the room the doctor resumed his digging into her private life, "now sweetie, what's your real name? You seem familiar. Are you an actress? A model?"

"You didn't really get raped did you? That's why you don't want your parents to know. This is just a heat of the moment regret," The doctor accused.

Lynette's facial expression turned into a deep scowl, "were your parents proud when you flunked out of Hollywood medical school? Seriously?! I wasn't raped? How dare you!"

"Well if you were a rape victim you'd want your support system here," the doctor reasoned.

"They're in the hallway, your security just threw them out," Lynette shot back.

"Who are your parents?"

Lynette stopped talking, glaring the doctor down, "I'm not saying another word until my lawyer is present."

"You're not under arrest. I'm just trying to help," the doctor chuckled.

"You're not helping," Lynette stated flatly.

* * *

"Shit," Adrien cursed as he ran his hands over his face, pacing a bit.

Finally his phone meowed again, Marinette looked at him quizzically at the sound.

Adrien's cheeks flushed slightly as he defended himself, "I like cats, alright?"

Marinette giggled lightly.

"Uhh Marinette, do you have Jagged's phone number?"

Marinette blinked a little as she thought before looking to her phone and replying, "Umm I think so, why?"

"Well it turns out that her musician Uncle isn't actually her biological Uncle, he's her godfather and can be considered a legal guardian if she doesn't want her parents to be present," Adrien replied.

Marinette gained a small grin as she dialed Jagged's number.

"Jagged's cell, Penny Rolling speaking," came the chipper assistant of the rock and roller.

Marinette smiled as she replied, "Ms. Rolling, it's Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is Jagged available?"

"He's in an interview right now, I can give him a message?"

"It's urgent. It's about his niece, Lynette," Marinette insisted.

"Is she alright?"

"No, she really isn't. I'm at the hospital with her, she needs him," Marinette admitted.

"What about her parents?" Penny pressed.

Marinette bit her lip a little before admitting, "We're hesitant to get in touch with them. We think they may be linked to some… bad things."

There wasn't another word from the assistant, but she heard in the background several people who began telling her to get off the set. Commotion, shouting, yelling, then a masculine voice on the line with a slight English accent, "Marinette?"

"Hi Mr. Stone," Marinette greeted.

"What's happened to my Lynnie? Is she safe?"

Marinette bit her lip as she heard Lynette screaming profanities at the doctor.

"No. She really isn't," Marinette shared.

"Bloody hell. I'm in Italy right now. I can be there in a few hours. Put her bloody doctor on the phone, Marinette," Jagged requested.

Marinette went to open the hospital room door only to find that the doctor had locked himself in the room with Lynette.

"Oh no," Marinette whined as she tried to force the door open.

"Miss you cannot go in there. Doctor patient confidentiality," The nurse stated as she eyed Marinette.

"I have her godfather on the phone, he wants to talk to her," Marinette replied.

"Oh," the nurse replied as she took Marinette's phone from her.

"This is Marie Gaudreau, I'm a nurse at Paris Saint-Joseph. We need to get in touch with the patient's parents could you give me their names?"

"NO!" Marinette, Adrien, Tom and Nathalie exclaimed.

Marie's face contorted in confusion as she replied, "Excuse me? I will not! This is in the patient's best interests and frankly sir we could have all of them charged with endangering a minor. The parents have rights."

She paused while the others could only assume Jagged was asking about Lynette's rights, the nurse seemed to roll her eyes before replying, "Not as much as the parents. Yes that is correct until she is 18 years old her parents have final say on treatments and have access to her medical records."

Marinette face palmed, she should've made that phone call in the washroom.

"Hand over my daughter's phone this instant," Sabine's voice ordered from another direction, behind her were two women and three men.

The nurse regarded Sabine sourly as if she'd taken a huge bite out of a rotten lemon at the petite woman's authoritive tone as she demanded, "And who are you?"

One of the women stepped forward, "Who I am is what will make this completely different."

Sabine produced a business card while informing the nurse, "I'm the patient's court appointed legal and medical advocate. We have reason to suspect emotional and mental child abuse, possibly being linked to the attack she endured within the past 24 hours. You will let me into the room with my client, you will return my daughter's phone to her and you will cease threatening those who attempt to help this child."

The nurse eyed the business card while a brunette haired woman standing next to Sabine produced the legal documents for the nurse to skim over.

With a look of defeat on her face, the nurse handed Marinette's phone back to her and unlocked the door.

"You're not her parents, leave," the doctor insisted.

Sabine ignored him and sat next to Lynette, wrapping her into an embrace. The brunette teenager was so tense Sabine could feel how taunt her muscles were beneath the hospital gown.

"You will remove yourself from this case immediately and she will be cared for and interacted with by a female physician hence forth. Furthermore you will cease attempting to contact her parents and instead will address any questions to Mrs. Sabine Cheng. Make sure your coworkers are aware of this," the brunette lawyer stated as she pointed to the door.

The doctor took his leave of the room.

"It's alright now. It's alright. I'm here," Sabine soothed as she felt the girl in her arms begin to relax and let her guard down. Sabine felt her heart shatter, this girl was being so brave while enduring something adult women sometimes have difficulty facing. That sort of strength, Sabine knew, couldn't be trained into someone, it was born into them.


	8. Grief

Kim crouched panting into the porcelain toilet bowl as his hands gripped the sides, his bare chest heaved with each breath as his hands shook and he tried to calm himself.

The news had hit him like a brick wall collapsing onto him. She was raped. Some creep had forced himself on her. He sat back from the toilet and leaned against the cold side of the bathtub. He felt in his chest and then his throat. His breathing became a bit more rapid despite his attempts to calm himself a sob escaped his throat as tears began down his face. He bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the thin strands. Why? Why Lynette? Because she was different? That was no excuse. He'd been teased about it before himself, for being Vietnamese, but she'd put a stop to it.

" _Get lost squinty eyes, I'm not gonna play with you," a four-year-old blonde haired blue eyed girl exclaimed as she shoved Kim away._

 _Four year old Kim felt his shoulders sag and his lips formed a frown. The first day of pre-school wasn't going so well._

' _It'll be okay,' his mom had said, 'you'll make new friends.' So far that wasn't happening._

 _Another girl's voice interrupted the blonde girl's as she asked, "Wanna race with me?"_

" _Ew that makes you feel so icky," the blond protested._

" _I wasn't asking you," the brunette girl clarified as she looked at Kim, "wanna race? Or we could play tag."_

 _Kim smiled and nodded, "Okay. Tag."_

 _The girl giggled a bit as she tapped his arm before running away from him. He took off after her, suddenly feeling lighter than he had a moment ago._

Kim washed his face at the sink with cold water, how could he ever forget that? No fear, but no shaming either. Just classic redirection of his attention. He'd eventually developed a crush on Chloe and was rejected last year, but when he'd told Lynette by text that night she hadn't responded with 'told ya so' or 'what do you expect? It's Chloe, duh!'

No, all she'd done was send him a crying cat face and then comment that there should be a crying dog face. He'd asked why dogs, and she'd responded by laughing and asking, 'What's my favourite animal, you dork face?'

Kim's fists clenched and then unclenched, then he clenched them again. She'd always been there for him. Always a friend to him. As for his part? He'd let her down twice. Once almost at the expense of her life, and this time- this time.

He felt the shred of control he'd regained wiggle free of him as his sobs started again. She'd been so scared the past five weeks and though they all tried, they couldn't protect her. He couldn't protect her.

Without a thought Kim bolted from the bathroom and raced down the stair case of his house, he opened the front door and ran out in the early morning sunlight. He was still dressed in his pajama bottoms he still had a severe case of bed head, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His only focus was on running, he'd run he decided until he could no longer feel his legs. As the houses and buildings blurred by him, he realized where he was heading and realized what he was feeling. He'd never felt grief for someone who was still alive though, it was an odd thing to experience.

* * *

Adrien straightened up in the waiting room chair and realized that a certain blunette girl had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. He quietly smiled to himself as he closed his eyes again, gently resting his head against hers. Then suddenly there it was!

The whirling of a photo being processed.

' _The fun begins,'_ the fashion line heir thought to himself as he grabbed his jacket that Nathalie had insisted on bringing and used it to shield himself and Marinette from the paparazzi.

Suddenly one the Gorilla had them both in his arms and wordlessly carried them into a hospital room.

Lynette was sitting up, looking every bit as worse for wear as Adrien figured she probably felt, he looked over at Sabine, who was asleep on a couch in the hospital room. Suddenly Adrien realized there were three very comfortable looking couches, and two recliners.

"My godfather and your father insisted on the accommodations," Lynette explained.

Adrien nodded a little as he walked over to the hospital bed, he hadn't expected the twinge of pain he felt when she flinched at him sitting near her.

"How does the morning look?"

"Grey, bleak," Lynette replied. Adrien could feel the sunlight on his skin through the window, he knew what she meant and she'd known what he'd meant.

"I don't mean any offense to Nino, Max, or Nath but I just—for now at least—I don't want any guys near me except you and Kim," Lynette admitted, her eyes closed with what he could only assume was regret. He knew her, not as well as Kim, but well enough to know that like Marinette she didn't like excluding anyone without reason.

"They wouldn't have, you know that," Adrien replied in an attempt to quell her fears but it didn't have the desired effect.

"I also knew that my mother would force antibiotics down my throat that I didn't even need," Lynette hissed out.

Adrien blinked a bit at the statement before asking, "what do you mean?"

"I mean I thought I knew my own mother," Lynette growled, angrily as she stood from the bed and walked over to the hospital window.

Adrien felt his breath hitch in his chest if Lynette had been on antibiotics then… oh no!

"They gave you the morning after pill right?"

"Are you kidding? There's no record I was ever taking antibiotics. None. They were never prescribed to me, so why would they believe me? She planned all of this. All of it! I ever see her again I'll—" she stopped herself then. Adrien got the picture loud and clear. He even thought he'd do the honours himself and spare her the jail time.

"If—" He didn't want to finish what he was about to ask, the thought made him feel sick but he swallowed with difficulty and continued, "—if you are—what are you going to do?"

"I—I—" She shook her head, staring out the window. She caught a glimpse of her own reflection and felt her stomach twist in threatened revolt from the sheer disgust she felt in looking at herself. The thought of abortion was appealing, but at the same time made herself even more disgusted. She held her face in her hands and took in a few shaky breaths, "—I don't know."

Adrien wanted to hold her then. She looked completely ready to fall apart, they weren't that close though and he knew it.

Marinette rolled over, facing the back of the couch.

' _Heavy sleeper, you're lucky,'_ Adrien thought to himself. He walked over next to Lynette and fought the intense urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders. He didn't however as he noticed something from the hospital window.

He gave a soft smile as he announced, "Lyn, Kim's here."


	9. Best Friend

Kim panted, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He knew he was going to need a shower, he hadn't even bothered with deodorant, soon as he felt his control slipping he'd just taken off running. It was instinct, it always helped him stay focused and helped him cope with things.

It's what he'd done when Victoire had died, he'd ran. He also remembered who'd ran after him, and now she was the reason he was running. He'd had no way to run to Victoire, but he had a way to run to her, and here he was. This was the hospital Adrien had said they were in.

He straightened up and headed into the old building, heading to the receptionist.

A young dark haired woman in her early twenties looked up at Kim, with a kind smile she greeted him, "Yes, can I help you?"

"Room 643?"

"Take the elevator up to the sixth floor, get off the elevator, turn to the left 643 is the third door down on the right hand side," the woman replied.

Kim nodded a bit, wiping his brow against his bare arm, "thanks."

"You should be fully dressed you know? Doctors don't exactly like sweat pouring onto their patients," The woman suggested.

Kim chuckled a bit as he headed to the elevator, "if her doctor complains I'll take a shower."

He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.

He waited in the elevator, arms crossed over his chest, what was he going to say to her? How was he going to be around her? His mind blanked as the elevator doors opened and he headed left walked down until he was standing in front of 643.

His mind raced for a moment before he took a deep breath and opened the hospital room door, he blinked at the sight, Marinette was asleep on the couch, Adrien was asleep in the recliner next to her, a woman who had black hair with a red streak in it was asleep on another couch, and a human representation of the Hulk slept in the other recliner. Sitting on the hospital bed with her knees up to her chest was Lynette.

' _Lynnie,'_ he thought as he approached her.

Lynette looked up as she heard Kim coming closer, the light sounds made by his slippers against the linoleum floor wasn't as subtle as one would think. Wait… slippers? He didn't have a shirt on, he was dressed in his pyjama bottoms, a pair of socks, and…. DOG slippers?!

Upon seeing this Lynette snorted, then the snort turned into a giggle, the giggle became a snicker the snicker erupted into full blown laughter as she threw her head back and held her sides. Big, tall, muscular, jock running through Paris in DOG SLIPPERS! She snorted again through her laughter.

Kim was confused for a moment before glancing down at his feet and suddenly wishing he could hide, but then that sound. Her laughter was music to his ears when just a moment ago she'd looked ready to collapse into herself.

Her boisterous laugh woke the remaining four occupants of the room. Adrien almost went cross eyed while Marinette tripped over her tongue trying to find some way to compliment Kim's attire. Nathalie let loose a small giggle while the Gorilla heartily chuckled.

Kim began to chuckle as well as he sat next to Lyn.

Her expression turned serious as she kicked his upper back.

"Ow! Hey," Kim exclaimed in surprise as he glared daggers at the brunette girl.

"You stink. Go shower," Lynette ordered.

Kim scoffed a bit as he looked at her, "You're the only girl I wouldn't ever dare."

"Yeah, cause you know I'm the Queen of Dares. What was it you were dared to do when we were ten? Oh yeah, that's right, run around the park do 20 jumping jacks and 10 lunges," Lynette replied through her laughter.

"Then you actually dared me to do double. Guess you didn't expect dancers to be that fit, huh?"

Kim shook his head 'no', "And don't even begin with feats of strength. Geez."

"I can stand on my tip toes! Can you? Le Chien Kim," Lynette challenged playfully.

Kim glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "You already know I broke my toes trying to."

Adrien quirked a brow as he stood up and stood on the pads of his toes.

"Nah, not like that," Lynette stated as she stood from the hospital bed and gradually raised herself up til she was on the pads of her toes as well and then suddenly only the very end of her big toes were touching the floor.

Adrien gaped at the sight while Marinette smiled broadly.

Lynette lowered herself back onto her feet in normal stance.

Kim shook his head and raised his hands to Lynette as a sign of defeat, "You're stronger. I am never trying that one again."

Lynette childishly stuck her tongue out at Kim who returned the gesture before he grabbed a towel and walked into the washroom.

Lynette's eyes widened as she called after him, "You're not going home to shower?"

Kim untied his pyjama bottoms as he called back, "Are you kidding me?! I just got here. I'm not leaving."

He closed the washroom door and soon the running water of a shower was heard.

"Well, I don't know about everyone else but I'm getting hungry," Nathalie stated as she stood up.

Adrien nodded as did Marinette, the Gorilla looked to Lynette who just shrugged, "I'm not feeling it."

Marinette felt her breath hitch in her throat as she walked over to her, "Lynette, you have to eat something. Going without isn't good for you."

Lynette shrugged a little, "I don't normally eat much."

"Name something. Anything you want, and we'll get it for you," Nathalie offered.

Lynette shrugged, "Poached egg and a fruit cup?"

Adrien blinked at the request.

"Like I said, I'm not that hungry. I never am," Lynette insisted.

Adrien thought for a moment before suggesting, "How about a veggie omelette?"

"Sure, make it two, Kim'll probably want one," Lynette agreed.

Marinette smiled a bit as she asked, "you know what he eats for breakfast?"

Lynette shrugged, "at one point or another we've ate every meal together in the last twelve years. I can tell you what he likes to eat for each meal, and which snacks he prefers in between meals. If he gets an urge for something sweet I can bet my last dollar on what he'll get."

Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other for a moment before the two of them chuckled a bit.

Lynette quirked a brow at the two, "what?"

"Nothing," Adrien replied, shaking his head.

Lynette swirled a few loose strands of hair around her index finger, something didn't seem right about that wordless exchange between her two friends but she couldn't place it.

Nathalie was the one to break the silence, "Lyn, what's your relationship with Kim?"

Lynette gave a bright smile and replied, "well if you'd asked me a few weeks ago I would've said 'friend' but really, he's my best friend."

Nathalie raised a brow at the girl's response. 'Best friend huh? I certainly never interacted with any male friend like that,' Nathalie thought to herself.

* * *

 **AN: So here's the 9th Chapter and I'm going to break the ice and ask it, what are your thoughts? Any questions? As I said at the start, I'm an open book about this stuff, if you're not sure, ask. No such thing as a silly question ;)**


	10. Staying put

**AN: Hey guys! So this is Chapter 10, honestly I go by reviews for how you guys are liking a story and if I stick with it. So if you want to keep reading this, please review and let me know. :) as long as at least one person is wanting to keep reading I'll keep writing til the story concludes. Other wise I feel like I'm just polluting the site with none sense nobody really wants around lol**

* * *

By Monday morning, Lynette was well enough to go home. She found herself surprised however when the driver turned a different way from the hospital.

"Uhh, my house is the other way," Lynette spoke up, though she had to force herself to. Realistically as far as she could get from that house the happier she'd be.

"You're not going back to your parents house, love," Jagged stated from his seat across from her in the car.

"What?"

"Jagged is your godfather, and as such temporary custody has been shifted from Sabine Cheng over to him," Penny clarified.

"But the tour?! You still have over half of your venues to go to," Lynette objected.

Jagged gave a small shrug, "It's not like I take time off regularly. My fans understand that something private has come up and I'll be making it up to them somehow. I've already got a few ideas. How psyched out do you think they'd be to star in one of my music videos? It's a contest we're thinking of having in compensation. The grand prize is staring in my next music video, other prizes would be things like the usual. Backstage passes, front row tickets, free merchandise. You get the idea, yeah?"

Lynette's mouth hung open for a moment before she objected again, "You can't put your life on hold for me, Jagged!"

"Why not? That's the oath I made when I took on being your godfather, you know? You agree to be a godparent, you're saying that if that young child ever needed someone and their parents either weren't able to or weren't fit, you'll step up. Here I am, Lynnie. I'm staying put," Jagged explained.

Lynette lost her voice at that point and instead elected to watch the scenery stream by until they got to Jagged's estate.

"Penny'll show you your room, and she'll be staying with us the next few months. Doctor said it'd be best if you had a woman you could speak with, well Penny's volunteered, so has Mrs. Cheng if you'd rather speak with her, and your friend Kim's mum has offered as well," Jagged stated as he left the car.

Lynette hesitated this was it. This was her out. Why had she put this off?

"Are you coming?" Penny asked, her smile instantly faded away when she saw Lynette's expression.

"Sweetie, what is it?"

Lynette's voice shook as she spoke her thoughts, "I just wanted out. The past three years. That's all I wanted. I wanted out of that house. I never thought to pick up the phone cause—cause he's so important to so many people. I barely know him. How could I possibly be important to him?"

Penny's smile returned to her face but there was an added softness to it.

"You know, you may not realize it, but he's made a point of making sure you always had the best birthdays. For each accomplishment you ever made, if he couldn't be there he made sure someone was there to record it for him. There were times when he'd get so worn out from touring, and then he'd get an e-mail with a video attachment of one of your swim meets, or a track you did background vocals for, or even at times all it took was me buying magazines that had your modeling photos in them and he'd get his vigor back. You're his everything, Lynette. His whole world. His fans are important, yes, but so are you," Penny revealed.

Lynette blinked a few times before leaving the backseat of the car, she was amazed that there was no paparazzi to deal with.

"Jagged let the wrong date slip," Penny explained as she walked with Lynette into Jagged's house. The house was more or less a mansion. Lynette was used to living in a high end two bedroom condo with her parents.

The large double doors were opened and Lynette blinked at the sight in front of her, there were parquet floors from the entrance way leading to two sets of spiral staircases with what looked like white marble railings. In fact looking around she was willing to bet that any one thing in this place would pay for an average student's tuition.

She followed Penny down a lavishly decorated hallway arriving at the second door on the left.

"Jagged said that you like purple, pink and pale blue," Penny said as she opened the door to the room. Lynette's confusion instantly lifted when she looked inside, the walls were painted a pale baby blue while the floor was the same parquet flooring in the hallway, there was a queen sized canopy bed at one side of the room with pink sheer drapes hanging from the canopy, the bed spread was a beautiful lilac colour and the furniture its self was snow white.

Lynette looked around the room, mesmerized by it.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it," Lynette replied, she turned back to the short haired woman, "You out did yourself, Penny."

Penny smiled and gave a small shrug, "It isn't anything too special. Still lots of room for personal touches here and there."

Lynette nodded in agreement as she glanced around once more, still mesmerized by it all.

"There's also an indoor pool, in the backroom," Penny hinted.

Lynette chuckled to herself as she nodded, "I still love swimming."

"That's why he knows you were never depressed," Penny confessed.

Lynette glanced to the woman with a curious expression.

"Oh your parents tried to argue that they were acting in your best interests. Jagged had them describe your behavior to him and he looked like he would've killed them if murder was legal. Essentially called them too stupid to be raising a child and that they'd made you suicidal and depressed. He's completely intending for you to stay here for as long as you want or need, no matter if that means you leave when you're eighteen or thirty-eight," the kind-hearted woman recanted.

Lynette blinked and cleared her throat, "But what if I'm—"

"there's a room right across from this one that would be suitable for a nursery if needed," Penny answered the unfinished question.

Lynette smiled as tears began to cascade down her face but these weren't the tears she'd grown used to shedding, these were tears of happiness.

"Thank you," Lynette nearly whispered.

Penny shook her head as she turned to leave the room, calmly replying, "No thanks necessary. We're the adults. It's our job to make sure that minors are taken care of."


	11. Last Thursday night

Lynette sat on the queen sized bed and ran her hands over the comforter, it was very high quality fabric, that much she was certain of. Her eyes lazily scoped out the room around her, Jagged and Penny had out done themselves as far as she was concerned. She laid down on the bed, and as much as she tried to blank her mind out her brain had other ideas.

She didn't want to think of the attack, but instead her mind shifted to just before that event. The Thursday evening she'd spent with Kim, and the Saturday morning after at the hospital. After Kim had showered at the hospital he'd sat with her wearing only the hospital house coat that was provided to her. She'd felt a little awkward but still safe. This was Kim. She knew she could trust him.

She hadn't bothered trying to hide her relief when the others had returned, Adrien had brought a change of clothes for the athletic male.

Kim had laughed it off and went to go change into the track pants and sleeveless top that Adrien had brought for him.

It was Autumn now but it was unseasonably warm. After changing in the washroom, he came back out and had stayed the entire day with her at the hospital, leaving only to go home, shower, grab a change of clothes and come back. Even though there were two couches, Lynette had a few nightmares. Kim admitted that's why he'd stayed with her and had brought a deck of cards and a few board games back with him.

Lynette hadn't wanted any of them, she was tired and wanted to sleep. Kim had appeared awkward when he suggested that he sleep next to her. Well, he had that to his credit.

She had reluctantly agreed after it was arranged that they'd have separate blankets.

 ** _Kim and Lynette had slept with his arm wrapped around her waist and their bodies pressed together with the bed sheets keeping them from actually touching each other. Somehow having him there, knowing he was there had relaxed her enough to be able to sleep. She'd woken up with Kim sleeping on his back and her head on his chest._**

 ** _He'd teased her about it, "Enjoying my heart beat? I can make it beat even faster."_**

 ** _"Dork face, there's no way to speed your heart rate up by will," Lynette had grumbled, still half asleep as she nuzzled into his chest._**

 ** _"Who said anything about will? I'll just run around the outside of the hospital," He replied._**

 ** _"You do and I break your knee caps. I'm comfy," Lynette had growled, her grip on him tightening. There was silence for several moments before he heard her speaking again._**

 ** _"I'm not a challenge," Lynette stated._**

 ** _"No, you're Lynnie," Kim agreed._**

 ** _"I mean you're not going to get into my pants, don't even try," Lynette spat out._**

 ** _Kim blinked then realizing that she was talking in her sleep._**

 ** _"Lynette?"_**

 ** _Her nails on her left hand dug into his side causing him to hiss as he gripped the offending hand before using his other hand to rub her back._**

 ** _"Lynette? Lynette, wake up," Kim coaxed._**

 ** _Lynette's brows knitted together and her facial features tensed._**

 ** _'A nightmare,' Kim realized as he watched her, his chest beginning to hurt with how distressed she looked._**

 ** _"Lynette, it's Kim. Wake up," he attempted to coax her out of her slumber again._**

 ** _A single tear came down out of her right eye._**

 ** _'Damn it! I don't know what to do,' Kim thought to himself. He gently pulled Lynette closer to himself, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead._**

 ** _With this, she seemed to wake up, looking at Kim with a confused expression._**

 ** _"W-wh-why did you kiss me?"_**

 ** _"I kissed your forehead, sleeping beauty, because you weren't waking up. You had a nightmare Lynnie. It's over. I'm here," Kim replied._**

 ** _"It isn't over. It still happened and I'm still living it," Lynette mumbled._**

 ** _"I'm right here with you," Kim responded. He gently took her hand into his own._**

 ** _"I promise you, no matter what, you're stuck with me. Until the day you tell me to get lost, I'm gonna be here. Right here, like I am now. If you lose your strength, then borrow mine, cause I'm never letting go," Kim vowed, squeezing her hand to emphasize his point._**

 ** _"If you ever need me, and I'm not right there at your side, call me. Text me. Nothing's too small or too big, got it?"_**

 ** _Lynette nodded a little as her breath came out in hot huffs against his neck. Kim wrapped his arms around her, holding her close._**

 ** _"I'm so sorry," He apologized, nuzzling into her hair._**

 ** _"What for?"_**

 ** _"I wasn't there to stop this. It shouldn't have happened," Kim confessed._**

 ** _"It wasn't your fault," Lynette objected._**

 ** _"Yeah it was. I should've stopped by your photo shoot after my practice was over," Kim stated._**

 ** _Lynette felt her heart sink. She knew there was no talking him out of it when he was convinced he was right._**

 ** _Lynette held her lip between her teeth before asking, "Kim, you're not psychic. How were you supposed to know this would happen?"_**

 ** _"I should've guessed it would. Everything you told me—I just didn't want to believe it could," Kim admitted._**

 ** _"Me either," Lynette agreed, she forced a smile to her face before concluding, "but we've still got each other, right?"_**

 ** _"Right," Kim acknowledged as he cradled her in his arms._**

 ** _"I can't believe we did that Thursday," Lynette giggled._**

 ** _Kim gave a light chuckle as he slightly groaned at the memory, "I thought your parents were gonna kill me."_**

 ** _"Why?" Lynette asked._**

 ** _"Cause I let you dare me to do it," Kim answered._**

 ** _Lynette giggled and shrugged as she cuddled into him, "It was fun though. You know I gotta just break free from them now and then. So we rode our bikes out to that air space, sat on the grass, watched the planes taking off. We were nowhere near close enough to get hurt."_**

 ** _"Unless a plane malfunctioned and crashed," Kim pointed out._**

 ** _"Okay, yeah, that would've been a disaster," Lynette conceded._**

 ** _"Then the cops showed up. I swear I saw my life flashing before my eyes," Kim continued._**

 ** _"I saw that look so I thought I'd try talk to them and get us out of it. Course the trouble with that is being asexual I have the flirting skills of a dead fish," Lynette joked._**

 ** _Kim laughed, "You asked the one cop if he had a light, I couldn't stop laughing at that one."_**

 ** _Lynette laughed along with Kim and then sighed a bit as she spoke, "Thank you."_**

 ** _"Hmm?"_**

 ** _"All last night, I kept thinking how happy I was on Thursday. Sure things might not have ended in a really positive way, but—it's the first time I remember really being happy in a long time," Lynette explained._**

 ** _Kim shook his head 'no', "You don't have to thank me. We're friends, Lynnie."_**

 ** _"That'll never change," Lynette agreed._**

 ** _'It already has,' Kim thought to himself, 'I love you.'_**

Lynette changed into her purple one piece swim suit and grabbed a towel from the washroom before heading out of the room. She left her bedroom and headed down to the back room where Penny had mentioned the indoor pool was. Maybe swimming a few laps would help clear her head.


	12. Advice

' _I hate Mondays,'_ ran through his mind, but hating wasn't exactly the right word, and he wasn't sure it was the fact that it was Monday that he hated. He didn't want to be here. What was he doing here anyway? He should've been helping Lynette adjust. That's how he felt about it at least. Then a thought crossed his mind, was she still just a friend to him? Was she more than a friend? What was going on? Everytime he was near her he felt butterflies in his stomach—uh oh!

He blinked a little at the realization but also knew what that meant. The odds of her rejecting him were pretty high, all things given. He wasn't sure he could keep on acting like just a friend around her, and he wasn't sure how she'd take finding out. Her rejection would be nothing like Chloe's he knew this. 'It isn't you, it's me. Honestly! I promise it's just me,' rang through his head in Lyn's soft voice. He quietly scanned the classroom who would be able to give him an inside view into her perspective? His eyes landed on an unlikely person for him to ever seek advice from, but he also knew that she was the most like Lynette as far as their independence and gender non conformation.

He resolved himself to ask for her help after class. Right on que, the bell rang. Kim quickly slung his backpack over one shoulder and approached his intended target.

"Hey shrimp," Kim greeted.

Not missing a beat the pink haired girl glared at him and demanded, "What do you want, Kim?"

Kim hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck a little, "Uhh well—I was—could we talk?"

Alix felt her eyes grow until they nearly popped out of their sockets. Talk!? Not race? Did he have a fever?

"Uhh, yeah, sure. Let me just grab my bag and we'll chat," Alix agreed as she slung her backpack over her shoulders and stood, heading out of the classroom.

"Are you coming with me?"

Kim nodded as he followed her, "yeah."

The two left the school grounds and headed towards the park, Kim couldn't for the life of himself ever understand why she was so into roller blading, and going to skate parks.

"Alright, so talk," Alix coaxed as she sat on a park bench.

Kim sat next to her, but didn't look at her.

"I got something huge happening I'm not sure what to do about it," Kim began.

Alix raised a brow at the statement.

"I've had this one friend since pre-school—recently somethings have happened that made me realize she isn't just a friend to me. I like her. I mean I _like_ like her, but I doubt she'd ever feel the sameway. Which brings me to the big part of the issue. I don't know if I can keep doing everything she and I do together but not flirt with her, and I know if I tell her it'll probably ruin the friendship we do have," Kim admitted.

"Whoa, heavy," Alix commented with a slight chuckle.

"Look, nobody can really tell you what to do here, Kim. Ya know? Whatever happens, happens and you move forward. Maybe it won't be the outcome you want, but you'll have closure at least," Alix offered.

Kim nodded a little before replying, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Losing her. I had a crush on Chloe before but that was just physical attraction, I realize that now. There's nothing about her to actually love."

"And this girl's different?"

"Completely. She stands up to Chloe, literally the one person I've seen force Chloe into her place and shut her up. She's a trained lifeguard but even before that, she'd dive into water without hesitation if someone was struggling to swim. She doesn't think, she just acts, because she doesn't allow herself to think. I both love and hate that about her. I want her safe, but I get the feeling if I asked her to stop helping others I'd get slapped," Kim rambled.

Alix blinked a little as she listened.

"I could tell her favourite colour is any shade of purple, she likes light pink and blue too but purple's the big one. She loves swimming, and she does track and field. She also plays guitar, she sings, she models, she took years of ballet lessons…"

"—Kim—It's Lynette, isn't it?"

A pink blush tainted the male's cheeks as he asked, "It's that obvious, huh?"

"Well I seem to recall a brunette girl diving into the deep end of the swimming pool when I realized I couldn't touch the bottom of the pool anymore. I couldn't swim back then," Alix admitted.

"I don't know what to do," Kim confessed, as he ran his hands over his face.

"I can't tell you what to do. That's something you have to figure out. Would you rather live with her not knowing, or chance living without her? Ultimately it's your choice," Alix repeated.

"What would you do if I confessed to you?"

Alix wrinkled her nose, "What?!"

"I mean, some things about you, the fact you're a tomboy, the way you are against adversity and challenges, you're kind of like her, that way," Kim explained.

Alix rolled her eyes, "I'm a little more focused on getting into the Olympics than I'm focused on dating. Since you asked though, if a guy did confess to me and he was nice enough, I'd give him a chance. He'd just have to realize that I'm not sacrificing my dreams for anyone."

Kim nodded a bit and then a thought occurred to him, _'I wonder what Lynette's dreams are? She's never talked about them.'_

"I heard a rumour that she's been removed from her parents custody," Alix probed.

Kim gave a heavy sigh and nodded, "I heard that one too but I'm not really in a position to say anything."

Alix nodded as she stood up, "Alright. I gotta get a few hours of practice in. So you know though Kim, I don't think you're alone in how you feel. She seems to be more relaxed with you than anyone else. Even Adrien and they've done modeling gigs together this year."

Kim chuckled a bit as he nodded, "She probably just thinks of me as a good friend, though."

"Let me ask you Kim, can you pin point when you fell in love with her?"

Kim thought for a moment before a smile grew on his lips, "It was last Thursday. We didn't have morning classes on Friday, those exams were done, so we were planning to skip. We went for a bike ride on Thursday night, right to the airport where the planes take off. She's always loved airplanes. We just sat in the grass watching them—until the cops came and got us."

Alix now had a confused expression as she continued to listen.

"She leaned into me and whispered, 'we could run for it'. I could only think two things. One, her parents were going to kill me. Two, this girl's insane. Make a run for it from the cops? That wasn't just crazy it was dangerous. She just laughed and went over to try to charm the police officers into letting us go. They put the cuffs on us, and put us in the back of the cruiser, when they put her into the car she actually asked the cop if he had a light. She doesn't smoke, I have no idea what she was thinking, but I couldn't help laughing. Pissed the cop off, but I realized she was taking my mind off the thought of going to jail. She was just going wild and I saw this freedom in her eyes. I fell for her right then and there," Kim recanted.

Alix smirked as she shook her head and headed off, "You got it bad, Kim."

' _Yeah. Tell me something I don't know,'_ Kim thought to himself as he stood up and broke into a steady paced jog.


	13. Not fair

Kim swallowed as he made his way through the front gate and to the large double doors of Jagged Stone's home. He hesitantly knocked on the door. After a few moments the door opened showing Jagged himself.

"Ah, Kim. C'mon in mate," Jagged greeted as he walked into the manor. Kim glanced around and shifted his backpack on his shoulder.

"I brought Lynette's homework," Kim began, "uhh is she in her room?"

"Could well be. Right now with all that's gone on I'm just giving her space to adjust to things. Ya know how it is," Jagged replied as he pointed Kim down one of the hallways.

Kim smiled and nodded, "cool, thanks."

He headed down the hallway and hesitated shooting a helpless look to Jagged.

"Third door," Jagged called down.

Kim nodded and knocked on the third door down, he didn't hear anything for a moment and knocked again.

"Hang on," Lynette called through the door.

Kim took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the door opened, Lynette was in a purple bath robe and her hair was noticeably damp, clinging to her face.

Kim felt his stomach flip and heat up while his face gained a bit of heat as well, "Uhh homework I brought. I mean I brought home you, no!"

Lynette raised an eyebrow at Kim before remarking, "I see the cat stole your tongue, Kim. Come in, sit down, calm down, and I'm gonna finish getting dressed. "

' _Finish getting dressed?! Oh god she's trying to kill me. Wait, Lyn doesn't think like that. Oh damn it! Okay Kim, calm down,'_ Kim thought to himself as he sat at her computer desk.

He thought maybe he'd try playing a game and get his mind off things but he tried twice and got the wrong password.

Feeling a little more at ease without seeing her face he called out to his friend, "Lynnie, what's your password?"

"LmM100600."

Kim paused after he typed the password in and hit enter he raised his voice a bit to ask her over her hair dryer, "That's got me curious. Your initials I get, but why 100600?"

The hair dryer stopped and Lynette poked her head around the corner, "Really?"

"What?"

"You're a dorkasaurus. October sixth is your birthday, we were both born in 2000," she answered as she rolled her eyes.

"Y-you made my birthday part of your password?" Kim asked with a slight blush.

"Well you are my best friend," Lynette replied as she began drying her hair again.

' _Yeah, best friend, that's what I am,'_ Kim thought to himself.

Lynette left the en suite wearing a pair of baby pink track pants and a white hoodie, "so you brought me some homework to do? I'm guessing that's what you were tripping over your tongue about?"

Kim nodded with a small smile, "Yeah."

Lynette swallowed as she watched Kim's gaze, "I do have a feminine body, Kim. Or are you just realizing that?"

Kim blinked and shook his head, "ah, sorry. I didn't mean to – I – "

Lynette bit her lip a little before looking to the wooden floor at her feet, "Kim—something changed, hasn't it?"

Kim bit the inside of his cheek but slowly nodded.

'Oh damn it,' Lynette thought to herself.

"But—before you say anything I—I want you to know, it doesn't matter how I feel," Kim started.

Lynette stared at him open mouthed as if she was ready to rip him to shreds over that sentence alone.

"It doesn't matter, because what's most important to me is that we're in each other's lives," Kim clarified.

"Kim," Lynette whispered.

Kim rubbed the back of his neck a little, "I mean, you know me. You know me better than anyone. I don't have to compete with you. I don't have to challenge myself to prove I'm good enough. I don't have to be macho and strong all the time. I can break down and you don't treat me any different. It took me a while to realize it. Longer than it should've. I'm so stupid sometimes, chasing a blonde bimbo whose as heartless as they come… there's only one girl that's always been around. Through my sadness, my anger, my insecurities, my accomplishments. It's always been you. It's like you do things instinctively that make me feel better before I even know I need them."

Lynette was biting her lip harshly now, and beginning to worry that she'd draw blood.

"I want to be yours, but I know you don't think like that. So I'm okay being just your best friend—and maybe… maybe not right now but when you've recovered if you ever wanted to try—I wouldn't care if it was just a one-time thing like an experiment. I get it. Some are sex repulsed, and some aren't."

"Kim, stop," Lynette commanded, a sharp edge to her voice that he hadn't heard before caused a lump to form in his throat instantly. It was his turn to bite his lip.

Lynette was breathing harshly before she glanced at the ground, almost as if she was ashamed of meeting his gaze.

Lynette took a steadying breath before she began answering, "I do care about you. A lot. That's no secret. You're my best friend, my most cherished friend, and if things—if I were different, maybe we'd be more."

' _There it is. She doesn't want me because she doesn't want a partner,'_ Kim thought to himself silently debating on getting out of the room. He almost hadn't heard what she said next.

Lynette's voice drifted over to him as she continued, "I've told you more about my asexuality than anyone else, even my therapist. You know that I have wondered a few things, and you know that I'm romantically attracted to men. It's just I can't see myself ever wanting to do more than kiss, cuddle and maybe do some light petting, but is that really fair to you? You'd be choosing a life of celibacy with me if you did choose to be with me. I've realized that I'm a grey asexual and not fully sex repulsed. The only time I'd ever be okay with sex, maybe - possibly, would be if I wanted to have a child. After it'd be right back to before. I stop myself wondering is that fair to you? Could you live with that only having sex to reproduce, not for pleasure, except maybe once or twice a year? I don't know, and after what happened on Friday I don't know if I'll ever be okay."

Kim hesitated and thought for a moment before getting up from his seat and walking over to Lynette, he gently placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in so her head rested on his shoulder, "I have no idea what you're going through. The doubts that have to be plaguing you, but I promised I'd be here for you, and I will. I know how you feel about 'it' so I figured we'd have to work out some kind of compromise. If that means that there's times when we just lay next to each other naked then that's fine. I'm a guy, yeah, but that doesn't mean that I'm not able to control myself. I know the saying Lynette, 'young, dumb, and full of cum' but that's just not me. I don't know. I mean I do get off, don't get me wrong, but—I'd be willing to figure out a compromise that works for both of us. Something that doesn't push your boundries but satisfies my needs too."

Lynette bit her lip, "Kim, what if we lose what we have right now?"

Kim shook his head 'no', "I don't think we would. Can we just try? If things don't work out then we'll just take a breather from each other to heal and rekindle the friendship."

He hesitated before admitting, "even if you do say 'no', I just- when Adrien texted me that night I- I didn't know how bad it was. I had this image of you bruised, broken bones, and unable to breathe. I can't describe the relief I felt when I saw that physically aside from- you were okay. All I thought while I was running that morning was I didn't get a chance to tell you."

Lynette pursed her lips together in silent thought.

Kim kissed her hair, "you don't have to answer now, just think about it?"

Lynette nodded then hesitantly asked, "if I say 'no'?"

Kim shrugged, "Then nothing changes. I'll still be here just as I am now."


	14. Favour for a friend

November brought with it the beginnings of snow fall, though so far there'd been nothing more than a light dusting of snow, this had drove Kim to show up at Jagged's mansion at least four times a week on average for nothing more than a desperate need for exercise. The rock and roller was happy to oblige him in this.

Lynette had watched the end of October come and go without a monthly visit, then the first week of November brought the same. Now she stood in the pharmacy trying to work up the courage to go to the family planning isle. She ideally looked over the various over the counter medical remedies for pain, heart burn, allergies. Who has allergies in winter? She briefly wondered then remembered that Kim's sister had been allergic to dust.

Kim's sister, that made her wonder what he'd say about this. Would he stay her boyfriend or would he leave? Would he want to keep the baby? Would he stay and help her raise it?

' _I'm getting a head of myself,'_ Lynette chastised herself.

"Hey Lynette," Marinette's voice drifted to the brunette girl.

Lynette broke from her trance like state and regarded the blunette, forcing a smile up to her face, "Hi Mari."

"Mmm, nope, I don't like it," Marinette stated.

Confused, Lynette inquired, "You don't like what?"

"That forced smile you just gave me," Marinette clarified.

Lynette hesitated for a moment before grasping the blunette's arm and heading off to a different area of the pharmacy where there was less of a crowd.

"Lynnie, what's wrong?"

"I'm late," Lynette whispered.

She rested a hand against her fore head before admitting, "it could just be stress related. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. But I—I can't work up the nerve to get a test. I've been walking through that isle for the past—" she broke off and looked at her phone. How long had she been here? It was 5:30? Seriously?!

"—hour. Marinette I just—I can't do it. I gotta know but I can't deal with being asked any personal questions. I'm scared out of my mind and the honest truth is that doctor that first treated me last month didn't help things any either. Literally tried telling me I was lying about what happened," Lynette confessed.

Marinette gasped and covered her mouth at the last bit. She slowly shook her head 'no', not wanting to believe what she'd heard while her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Lynette, I'm so sorry. I wish they would've let me be in there with you. I mean you don't wake us up in the dead of the night for trivial things. You really don't. And it's never been an issue, it never would be," Marinette stated.

She smiled a little bit before making a suggestion, "I'll get it for you. Just meet me outside, okay? Don't worry about anything. I'll handle it and if you want, you can take the test at my place later, that way you've got someone with you."

Lynette slowly nodded.

"And don't worry about Kim. He's crazy about you, I really don't think he's going to leave you to raise a child on your own if you are," Marinette added.

Lynette blinked in shock before asking, "H-ho-how did you kn-know I was—"

"It was written on your face. You get this one particular look whenever you're worried about Kim or something regarding Kim. Almost a look of regret. He didn't stumble into this choice to be your boyfriend, he made a conscious choice to pursue his feelings. You're stuck with that jock. Get used to it," Marinette replied with a wink before heading off to the family planning isle.

Lynette let a small genuine smile creep across her face as she left the pharmacy to wait outside. The crisp cold air almost had a cleaner scent to it than summer, and it tickled her nose. She put her hands in her jeans pockets as she stood and waited.

"Well lookie here, why are you just hanging around outside of the pharmacy, Montclair?"

' _Geez I can't catch a break,'_ Lynette thought to herself before she shot back, "why are you here, Bourgeois? Don't you have minions that go to the pharmacy for you so you don't have to mingle with the 'peasants'?"

"As if! I'd never let one of those guys come here for me. They'd be clueless," Chloe retorted, "But that doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"What do you care? Don't even bother acting like you do, I know you don't. You only care about what exists before the tip of your nose. If you actually had half a heart like the rest of the school, maybe you would've picked up on a few things the past month. I'm not here for your entertainment, Chloe, and I am most certainly not in the mood to put up with your bullshit. So get in there, get what you came for, and go. Leave me alone," Lynette growled.

Chloe blinked a little before sighing and relaxing her pose. She shifted her arms from being across her chest to her hips as she pressed for more information, "I do notice somethings. I noticed that in the second week last month, you missed about half a week of school. Kim kept getting your homework for you and everyone said your parents were no longer being considered fit parents. I read the tabloids too, they're talking about some kind of scandle and child abuse?"

"So the rumour mill goes," Lynette replied with a disinterested tone.

"Well anyways, the other person that's was missing is that Sebastien guy. Rumour had it that he'd attacked you and- did things. Is it true?"

Lynette shot a glare at Chloe that would've killed her on the spot if looks were capable of such things. The brunette spoke slowly, "first off, never mention that name to me again. Second sometimes rumours are just rumours and sometimes rumours hold some truth that's all you're getting out of me Chloe, so I'll thank you kindly to move along."

At that moment, Marinette left the pharmacy carrying a shopping bag, "got what I came for, let's go."

Lynette followed her blue haired friend without a second glance Chloe's way.

Chloe watched as Marinette took a pink box out of the bag and handed it to Lynette. Lynette quickly stuffed the box into her coat pocket.

Chloe entered the pharmacy and began scanning the isles, first aid, pain relief, feminine hygiene, family planning, there it was. First response pregnancy test, that's what the box was!

The blonde thought for a moment on what Lynette had told her, _'sometimes rumours are just rumurs and sometimes rumours hold some truth.'_

' _Why does she have to talk in riddles?'_ Chloe thought to herself as she fought the urge to swing her fist at the shelving unit in front of her.

' _I guess that really, she's never seen anything from me to show that I do have a kinder side. This just bugs me though. I mean her parents get arrested, Sebastien was held in jail at the police station for 48 hours, Sabrina told me about that. Are the two events linked? If so I can't imagine that kind of horror,'_ Chloe thought to herself as she headed off for what she'd came to the pharmacy to get.

Marinette and Lynette walked in silence as they headed to Tom & Sabine's Boulangrie Patisserie, Lynette hesitated when she saw the back of a familiar head. Kim.

Marinette grasped Lynette's arm gently coaxing her, "It'll be okay."

Lynette bit her lip and nodded as she headed into the bakery, with Marinette at her side.

"Oh hello sweetheart," Sabine greeted the brunette girl with a smile.

"Hey Mrs. Cheng," Lynette replied. At the sound of Lynette's voice, Kim turned around and smiled but his smile quickly fell as he noticed her body language and facial expression.

He walked over to her, watching as she seemed to visibly tense more as he approached. He brought his hand up to the left side of her face, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before cradling the left side of her face. Lynette closed her eyes and nuzzled into his hand. The touch was familiar, loving, and comforting.

She knew he was going ask what was wrong, but she wasn't expecting the question she did hear from him, "When are you testing?"

Lynette's eyes shot open and she looked to her boyfriend with a questioning expression.

He shrugged a little, "I've never seen you like this before. I've seen how embarrassed you were when you got your first period at a swim meet."

"Don't remind me," Lynette grumbled.

"I've seen your expression when you're sick, when you're sad, when you're nervous. Given the date, I figured there's only one reason you'd be nervous right now," Kim concluded.

Lynette smiled to herself and gave a small chuckle as she admitted, "It still amazes me how much you notice."

"It's because I care," Kim answered as he sat at a table, Lynette shook her head 'no', and looked to the stairs.

"We were going to hang out in my room, Kim. Why don't you come along? We can wait things out there," Marinette suggested.

Kim nodded in agreement, "Alright."

He stood up and offered his hand to Lynette. Lynette smiled a little as she took his hand and the two of them followed Marinette up into the apartment above her parent's bakery and then to her room.

Kim looked around at the loft style room and whistled lowly, "It's pretty pink."

"Yeah, guess her favourite colour," Lynette quipped.

"Oh knock it off you two," Marinette replied as she opened a drawer and put the contents of her shop inside.

A question suddenly came to Lynette's mind as she asked, "What were you in there for anyway, Mari?"

"Girl stuff," Marinette replied simply.

Lynette chuckled to herself silently wishing she'd been a fly on the wall to see the cashier's expression seeing both feminine products and a pregnancy test.

"So, umm…"

"I'm gonna go and do my homework while I listen to music, you two go ahead and talk," Marinette offered as she gathered her book bag and climbed up the ladder to her bed, placing the earbuds into her ears and turning on the music app on her phone. Tikki gently licked Marinette's hand as the blunette smiled and scratched the pug's belly.

Kim waited until Marinette was out of sight before asking, "So if you are, what do you think you're gonna do?"

"I don't know," Lynette replied.

"I mean in one way I do want to have kids one day, but I'm not ready to be a mom. I certainly don't know about raising my rapists' child. That's not going to be easy," Lynette admitted.

Kim nodded a bit, "I can't imagine."

"Something you're not telling me," Lynette stated.

Kim shrugged and gave Lynette a smile, "It's just… I always pictured myself with a daughter."

Lynette blinked the decision within his words sinking in. Daughter, he said 'daughter' not 'raising a little girl', a daughter. So did that mean that even though he wouldn't be the father he'd consider this baby to be his?

She gave a small smile, "So what? If I am, even though it isn't yours, you're planning to raise it like it is?"

Kim nodded as he replied, "Yeah, I am."

Lynette felt tears coming to her eyes as Kim held her close to himself.

"I don't know how I could've ever done anything to deserve you," Lynette confessed in a partial sob. Kim nuzzled into her, kissing the top of her head.

"You were just yourself, Lynette. That's all you ever need to be," Kim answered.

Lynette slowly nodded and wiped her tears away, "I was thinking Victoire if it's a girl."

"Uhh, no, let's not name her after my sister," Kim stated.

"At least, not her first name. Her middle name was Madeleine," He suggested.

"Madeleine's nice—Mady," Lynette agreed, "I actually always thought Mady was cute for a little girl."

"And maybe Cam for her middle name. I've always thought Cam was a good name for a girl," Kim continued.

"Madeleine Cam Montclair? You're giving her a Vietnamese middle name," Lynette replied, "and she isn't Vietnamese."

"Well, not by blood," Kim defended, "but her Daddy is."

Lynette gave a small laugh and nodded, "I'll think about it. But maybe we should save 'Cam' for if, down the road, we have a second."

Kim blinked a bit at the recommendation before smiling, "You'd want to have my child?"

"More and more I'm thinking I would, yeah. Not right now, but one day. I mean I'm only turning 17 next week," Lynette replied.

She stood up and took the box with the pregnancy test out of her coat pocket.

"Well, here goes nothing," she stated with a sigh and headed to the washroom.


	15. Finding out

Lynette flushed the toilet and watched the window indicators on the test stick. She found it so odd that this small piece of plastic was about to determine something so life changing. She saw the one line appear brightly without issue, she checked the box and saw that the line that appeared was verifying that the test had been done correctly. She bit her lip a little and grabbed some toilet paper, cleaning off the test as best as she could, she thought she saw something else but she didn't want to look, not right now.

She stood taking slow, steady, deep breaths. A relaxation technique she'd learned from both Adrien and Kim, but it wasn't helping.

Fighting hysteria and fighting against looking at the test she grabbed fresh toilet paper and grabbed the test, she then grabbed the box and walked out towards Kim and Marinette.

Kim sat on the chaise in Marinette's room he saw her expression and held his hand out with an offer, "I'll read it."

Marinette turned off the music on her phone and sat in her computer chair, Tikki was sitting next to Mari, but the pug's attention was grabbed by Lynette.

As if she could smell the brunette teenager's distress she stood from her spot by her owner and rushed over to Lynette who sat next to Kim. Placing her front paws up on the chaise, Tikki looked up at Lynette and gave a small whine.

Lynette smiled as she scooped Tikki up and cuddled her. The pug nuzzled into Lynette, licking her cheek in a comforting gesture.

Marinette smiled at the sight commenting, "She likes you."

"That or she knows I'm worried," Lynette replied.

"Maybe it's both," Kim suggested as he held the test up to the display on the box.

Marinette watched Kim's expression as she inquired, "Well?"

Lynette bit her lip, "I'm afraid to ask."

Kim's shoulders sagged a little. Marinette couldn't decipher his facial expression until he opened his mouth and announced, "It's positive."

Lynette was instantly in tears, Tikki lapping away at the salty water furiously while Kim held his girlfriend in his arms. Marinette rushed downstairs.

For what seemed like hours Lynette sat with Kim and Tikki crying, but in reality it was only a few minutes before Sabine appeared and knelt in front of the distraught girl.

Words failed the grown woman, so she did what she always did instinctively and played with Lynette's hair, very gently. All the while Kim kept shushing Lynette in a soothing tone and gently rocking her. When she wasn't calming down Sabine took Tikki from Lynette's lap and Kim pulled Lynette onto his lap, her legs drapped across his own. He held her close to himself as he rocked with her, still she wasn't calming after a few more minutes.

He looked to Sabine and pleaded, "help me get my coat off?"

Sabine nodded and unfastened his coat's zipper, allowing Kim to keep holding Lynette, without breaking contact. Once the zipper was undone Kim scooped Lyn up in his arms and carefully laid down on the floor with her, resting her ear right above his heart.

It was a far-fetched attempt. He'd only seen her soothed by this gesture once when she was very sick and it had been her father's heart that she was listening to. After a few moments the body wracking sobs turned into small whimpers, then she was crying silently, listening to the beat of her boyfriend's heart through his hoodie.

Kim kissed her cheek as he rubbed her back, "I'm staying with you. Whatever you decide, it's your choice. I'm behind you all the way."

Lynette nodded silently before her eyes closed and she fell asleep listening to his heart. Kim noticed that Sabine looked ready to cry as well and decided to try to distract her with a joke, "hey, don't you start. I don't think my heart's big enough to soothe two ladies."

Sabine gave a small smile before heading back downstairs with Tikki, Marinette came back up shortly after Sabine left. Seeing Lynette, her heart broke. The poor girl who was always in her mind as being strong, independent, and ridiculously secure about her abilities looked as frightened as a young child. This wasn't the Lynette that Marinette knew. Her parents had actually done it, they broke her.

Marinette opened up one of the drawers to her dresser and pulled out a warm looking quilt, she wordlessly used it to cover Lynette and Kim.

"Thanks Marinette," Kim said with a smile.

Marinette nodded, "Unfortunately I can't do much for your back, however—"

She climbed the ladder to where her bed was and returned back down with a spare pillow, "at the very least your head and neck can be comfortable."

Kim lifted his head for Marinette to place the pillow underneath thanking her again.

"I don't know how anyone could ever let them walk. I mean she's just so—"

"I know. Not like Lynette right now, at least not the Lynette she lets everyone else see," Kim finished.

Marinette looked to Kim with a quizzical look about her. He smiled as he added, "She's always been like that. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside. She puts a confident front on for everyone but in reality, she's got insecurities like everyone else. She doesn't like to show it though. Did you know she's afraid of cream based sauces? I used to tease her about it whenever she got on my nerves. 'Knock it off or I'll cover you with alfredo,'"

Marinette's face contorted in confusion as she asked, "Cream based sauces? Why? What's so scary about them?"

Kim gave a half shrug so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping girl on his chest, "I don't know. She's terrified of them. Won't eat them, can't even stand looking at them. Cream cheese? Fine. Milk? Fine, Coffee cream? That's fine too. But alfredo sauces she can't stand seeing. Oh and mayonnaise. The girl is terrified of mayonnaise."

Marinette shook her head vigorously. Lynette was definitely a strange girl, no denying it. She quietly stated, "I don't know Kim. She's an odd one."

Kim smiled and glanced at Lynette, his expression softening as she gazed at her, "Yeah, isn't she something else?"

Marinette shook her head, smiling, this was too much. Ever since Lynette came back to school, she'd seen a side of Kim she didn't know existed, but she guessed he was like this routinely with Lynette. Something told her, drawing from that conclusion, that the rude, over confident, daring, braggart boy everyone knew Kim to be was really just for show. He'd said that Lynette put on a display of bravado to hide her insecurities, now she wondered if maybe Kim had the same defense mechanism. She never would've thought Lynette to be afraid of anything, much less white sauces and mayonnaise! She knew Kim was afraid of spiders, but so were a lot of people. It's called arachnophobia, so what?

So Kim couldn't have anyone thinking the track and field star was a big wuss, that's what. That's why he was always trying to prove himself to be the alpha male of the school. What about Lynette though? Marinette thought about it and it suddenly hit her. Lynette was trying to prove that she didn't need anyone. It took them seeing her forced out of the car in an outfit she really didn't want to wear for her to actually let them in and try to help her.

That made sense. She was trying to prove to everyone that she didn't need any help, but that's silly! Everyone needs help sometimes, even fully grown adults. She glanced over at the new couple, only to find that Kim had fallen asleep, still holding Lynette.


	16. Back of a cop car

_It was unseasonably warm for the first week of October, as such Lynette was dressed in a black tank top, a green and blue plaid button down sleeveless shirt that she left open except for the button at the middle of the shirt. She was wearing denim short shorts that came down to around mid-thigh. At school she'd worn shorts that met the dress code requirements but at home she'd changed into something more comfortable to her, and she wore what Kim could only describe as cow girl boots._

" _Come on, Kim, I'm bored sitting around here," Lynette complained._

" _Let's get our bikes and just go," She pressed._

" _Lynnie, it's a good chance that we'll both get into serious trouble," Kim replied._

" _Oh I get it. Le Chein Kim is chicken," Lynette teased._

" _What?"_

" _You don't have the guts to do it," Lynette taunted._

 _Kim raised a brow._

" _I dare you to ride your bike with me to the airport and watch the planes take off," Lynette challenged._

 _Kim blinked before smirking, "You're on."_

 _On the walk to Kim's house with Lynette's bike so he could get his own bicycle he decided to increase the challenge, "Not only am I gonna go, I'll beat you there."_

 _Lynette gave him a cocky smirk, "And if I win, you let me give you a makeover."_

 _Kim visibly blanched at the idea, but nodded none the less, "alright. If I win, you have to sit in my lap."_

 _Lynette blinked at the idea before a rosy blush tinted her cheeks and she nodded, "o-okay, but nothing more than that!"_

" _Of course not," Kim agreed as they reached his house. Jumping onto his own bike Kim headed off towards Charles de Gaulle airport, they had a long ride a head of them they both knew it but they were both athletes. Neither of them ever backed from a dare and they both knew they'd be able to make the ride there and back._

 _Lynette smiled as she road they peddled their bikes, they were actually going to do this. She felt her heart pumping faster with the thrill of possibly getting caught. Kim glanced over his shoulder at the brunette girl and kept peddling._

 _She mused for a moment about how their bikes were similar but still different. They were both Gitane brand bicycles, with the same braking system, same tires. They were essentially the same bike except for minor details that made her bicycle model definitively 'feminine' while his was not. Little things that weren't a big deal. Add to it that her bicycle was dark purple while his was bright red and it was clear which bike belonged to whom._

 _They continued to race each other, Lynette sometimes taking the lead while Kim sometimes took the lead over her._

 _Once they were in range, they stopped for a moment and discussed how they were going to get past the guards if there were any on duty. They decided to take a different route into the airport's fields and headed in being careful to sneak around. The guards, they both saw the no trespassing sign but exchanged confident smirks and shrugged it off as they headed onto the field. Once there, Kim sat down first, keeping his legs spread out. Lynette almost blushed before sitting between Kim's legs, leaning into his chest. The cool grass against her legs caused her to chill a little,but the heat from Kim's chest through his hoodie was keeping her warm._

' _That's why he wanted this reward,' Lynette thought to herself as she glanced up at the tall boy behind her. Kim glanced down at Lynette's inquisitive face and smiled. Words weren't needed right now. He was enjoying this as much as she was. Seeing the planes take off this close was incredible. The planes were taking off in the opposite direction from them but they were still close enough to get a better look than they were at any of the designated safe zones._

" _You always liked airplanes," Kim mused as they watched._

 _Lynette nodded in agreement as she clarified, "I've always liked the freedom they represent."_

" _Ah, that's what it is," Kim replied, resting his chin on the top of her head. He gained a whiff of what he could only guess was a mixture of her natural scent and shampoo. The shampoo smelled like vanilla and strawberries while her natural scent had a near forest like smell to it. Kim closed his eyes, taking in a deep inhalation. He passively hoped she couldn't notice the effect that smell had on him but realized even if she did, she trusted him. With good reason, he'd never go against her wishes._

" _Happy Birthday," Lynette stated as she glanced at her friend._

" _Oh sure, bring that up," Kim joked._

 _Lynette giggled as she turned slightly so she was facing him, "what? Having me between your legs isn't a good enough present?"_

 _Kim blinked and blushed at what she was hinting at, not to mention the tone she'd used! What kind of movies had she been watching to gain a sultry tone like that? He cleared his throat before replying, "that's – unusually bold for you to say, Lyn. If I'm honest, you kinda got it reversed, but umm – having you sit like this is nice."_

' _A kiss would be even nicer,' Kim thought to himself as he tested the situation by wrapping his arms around her waist, he rested his head on her shoulder, 'we've got all night though.'_

 _Lynette leaned into Kim's chest and he felt his face heat up a little at the contact but smiled, knowing it was a sign that she felt safe with him. That's when they both heard sirens, opening his eyes Kim saw the flashing blue lights and his heart sank into his stomach._

' _Shit! I knew this was a bad idea. Damn it! Her parents are gonna kill me,' He internally panicked. As if sensing his distress, Lynette wordlessly got up and leisurely walked over to meet the police officer who stepped out of his patrol car._

" _Something wrong officer?"_

 _The police officer, a man in his mid-twenties, maybe, regarded her and seemed to recognize her but maintained his professionalism as he inquired, "This is a no trespassing zone. What are you kids doing here?"_

" _We're not causing any harm, just watching the planes take off," Lynette replied, flashing a dazzling smile at him her fingers threading through the belt loops of her jean short shorts._

" _The area is fenced off for a reason, it isn't safe this close to the runway," The officer replied._

" _Look at where we're sitting, we're far behind the planes taking off," Lynette reasoned._

" _Besides we're only gonna be here another ten minutes," She added batting her eyes and flipping her chestnut hair behind her shoulder._

' _Dear god where did she learn to flirt?! She's driving me crazy,' Kim thought, not really registering what the other police officer had just asked him. He wasn't paying too much attention until he heard the phrase, 'Hands behind your back, turn around.'_

 _He inwardly groaned but obeyed, turning around to face his back to the officer, he watched as the officer talking to Lynette had her turn around, catching eye contact with his friend she gave him an apologetic look that nearly broke him._

 _He was thrown into the right side of the back of the cruiser, while the left hand side door opened. Lynette was eased in, her hands also cuffed behind her back._

" _Got a light?"_

 _The question was so out of character that Kim shocked himself with the roar of laughter that escaped his lips. The officer scowled at her before slamming the door closed._

 _Lynette scooted herself closer to Kim, glancing over her shoulder as she noticed the officers gathering their bicycles._

" _we should make a run for it," she suggested._

' _This girl is completely insane,' Kim thought as he kept laughing, 'I love her.'_

Kim blinked himself awake as he glanced at Lynette, sleeping soundly against his chest. He smiled at the sight, and gently pushed some stray strands of hair behind her ear.

' _What did I do to deserve finding you? Hmm? I don't think anyone could ever be as perfect for me as you are, Lynette,'_ Kim thought to himself.


	17. Memories

_The two young children played in the snow, it was winter break for them, despite the fact that they now attended different schools. It seemed as though the girl's mother was intent on trying to keep them separate. Thankfully she was in New York right now with a huge line up reveal, which meant Lynette was home with her father, a kind hearted man who loved nothing more than to see Lyn smiling and enjoying her childhood._

 _Ideally M. Le sipped on a cup of steaming hot tea as the two men watched their children in M. Montclair poured himself a cup._

 _"We may have a young couple on our hands," M. Le observed as he watched his son, 8 year old Kim have a snowball fight with M. Montclair's daughter._

 _"It's very possible," M. Montclair agreed as he watched them, he sipped from his cup as he kept his eyes glued to his child._

 _Despite Kim towering over her, he was gentle with her, yet very rough with other boys._

 _"He knows how to treat girls," M. Montclair complimented._

 _"Thank you. Your daughter is quite engaging for him. You realize she's the only friendship he's maintained?"_

 _"Really? That is something," M. Montclair remarked as he watched the two children fall onto their backs, they then began to move their arms and legs as they made snow angels._

 _M. Montclair began heating up some hot chocolate, "They'll likely be coming in to warm up soon. It's cold out there."_

 _"Yes," M. Le agreed._

 _He gave a small sigh as he watched the two of them._

 _"You know, the kind of remind me of you and Tora," M. Montclair stated._

 _"Oh? How so?"_

 _"The way they seem to instinctively know what the other wants before they even say it," M. Montclair replied, his brown hair falling into his eyes._

 _M. Le shook his head, "I was thinking more like you and Janine."_

 _"Nothing like myself and Janine. Honest truth is if it weren't for Lynnie I wouldn't still be married to Janine," M. Montclair confessed._

 _"Charles," M. Le gasped as he regarded his old friend._

 _"Has your marriage truly become that bad?"_

 _"Worse," Charles admitted as he watched Kim wrap an arm around Lynette as they hurried into the house._

 _They heard the door open and close as Kim called in, "We're done out there. Lynnie's too cold."_

 _Lynette's teeth were chattering as Kim unzipped her coat._

 _"No," Lyn protested._

 _"Lynette, take off your coat and go sit by the fire, you and Kim can share the blanket there while I fix the hot chocolate," Charles requested._

 _Lyn gave a pleading look to Kim._

 _"What's that look for? You know I'm not letting you turn into an icicle," Kim joked with a quick wink._

 _Lynette nodded as she stripped off her snow clothes and winter boots before heading into the living room._

 _M. Le leaned into Charles' space and whispered, "How bad?"_

 _His tone was low enough that the children wouldn't hear._

 _Charles waited until Kim was out of the room before replying, "I love that little girl. I love her so much it destroyed me when I found out—" he hesitated, swallowing harshly before confessing, "Lynette isn't my daughter. She's Paul's. Got any idea what it was like to find that out? Here I am, raising a kid I think is mine—turns out she isn't. Her mom got knocked up around the time of our wedding night, by a foreign exchange student turned rock and roller."_

 _"I'm sorry," M. Le apologized._

 _"It's not your fault, Chein," Charles replied with a small shrug._

 _"I'm going to legally adopt her. She doesn't know yet, Janine, I mean. She doesn't know I plan to make Lynette legally mine," Charles admitted._

 _"And after I do, I'm divorcing the bitch an taking Lyn with me," Charles revealed._

 _"Is the hot chocolate ready, Daddy?" A quiet voice asked, shakily._

 _The two men spun around to see Lynette, the blanket wrapped around her, and teeth still chattering._

 _"Kim! Keep her by the fire so she can warm up," Chein called to his son._

 _Kim hurried over to Lynette, guiding her back to the living room._

Lynette blinked as she woke up and glanced around before letting a heavy sigh fall from her lips. A gentle hand landed on the small of her back as Kim held her close to himself. His brown eyes softened as he met her sapphire blue eyes.

Studying her expression for a moment before asking, "Bad dream?"

"No. No just something I remembered," Lynette replied as she sat up. Kim sat up with her, his arm still wrapped around her.

"What happened?"

Lyn shrugged, playing with some threads on the blanket before questioning, "You remember winter break, when we were eight years old?"

Kim nodded as he watched her, "Yeah. You were so cold you were almost a snow girl. I had to huddle with you under a blanket in front of the fire with hot chocolate before you warmed up."

"I was having so much fun I didn't want to come inside. That isn't all though. It was the first day in over a week I hadn't heard my parents fighting," Lynette admitted.

Kim became silent watching her intently as she continued.

"You see, my Dad found out that—that my mom had cheated on him. I was the result of that," Lynette confessed, taking a shaky breath in.

"Lynette, neither of us have cheated on the other. You didn't ask for this. I can't imagine what it was like to find out so young that the man you thought was your Dad isn't, but don't think for a minute that it changes anything with this baby," Kim soothed.

Lyn gave him a confused glance.

Kim rested his hand on Lynette's stomach as he explained, "She might be growing inside you here, but she's growing in me too."

He took her hand and placed it over his heart, "right here."

Lynette felt a silent tear fall from her eye as she looked at Kim. The softness in his eyes, the gentleness of his voice, that look he always gave her, as if she was the only girl in the world. She gently brought a hand up to Kim's face, cupping his cheek for a moment, she felt her stomach beginning to flutter as if butterflies resided in it, and her breathing slowly deepened. She leaned in closer had he always smelled this good? A warm musky scent was filling her nose and she couldn't help but blush a little. She leaned in closer until her lips were pressed against his. Kim responded to her kiss as soon as his shock wore off. He gently cupped the side of her face while he moved his lips against hers. He could taste the sweet tang of the raspberry vinegarette dressing from the salad she'd had at lunch, coupled with the subtle taste oranges from her chap stick.

The kiss felt like it went on for minutes but in reality it was only a quick second, leaving Kim with the same rush he felt after winning a race, Lynette felt as if she was floating, and nuzzled into Kim's neck, drinking in the scent that resided there. A mixture of Kim's own scent, cologne, and body wash. Wrapping her arms around him she cuddled in close, "I don't deserve you. How did I even find you?"

Kim smiled as he gave a soft chuckle, "I've been asking myself that about you."

"Kim?"

"Hmm?" Kim answered, enjoying the feeling of his girlfriend cuddled up close to himself.

"How do you know the baby's a girl? What if he's growing inside your heart?"

Kim gave a gentle laugh and nodded, "it's the same thing. He's growing in your womb, he grows in my heart. That's just how it is."

He kissed the back of her hand, "And since there's a little person in you, why don't we get out of here and get you both some nourishment?"

"I am a bit hungry," Lynette admitted.

"My treat," Kim offered as he stood up and reached for Lynette's hand.

* * *

AN: Whoo! They finally kiss. So there's a poll on my profile, a way for you, the readers, the make a decision in this story. I honestly welcome your feelings on this question and yes I will write it in, whichever way it goes. Your say on the story you're reading, go make your voice heard.


	18. Both ways

Marinette looked at the test and felt her heart sink, she inwardly groaned as she rested her body on the floor of the bathroom. Great. Just… well…. Great.

She looked at her phone for a moment before dialing a number that she would normally only text. It took a few rings before the warm familiar voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hi Adrien," Marinette greeted.

"Hey Mari, everything okay?"

Marinette looked at where the pregnancy test laid on the counter top of her washroom as she replied, "Uhh, well, umm cou-could you come over later?"

"Marinette is something going on?"

"You could say that," Marinette answered. She realized then that she'd stuttered she hadn't stuttered while talking to her boyfriend since—uh well since the start of the school year. He'd grown increasingly concerned that she could barely form a sentence around him and kept playing two truths and a lie with her until she'd gotten up enough nerve to use that game as a means of telling him about her crush.

He'd responded by visibly relaxing in front of her and then kissing her, they'd been intimate once and had been keeping their relationship quiet so as not to upset miss drama queen Chloe, and that wasn't the only reason. Adrien was worried that his father wouldn't approve of Marinette, he'd planned to tell his father after his next birthday when he would turn 18, then all legal rights be damned. If his father wouldn't let him be with Marinette, then he'd move out.

Marinette now knew however that Adrien's father would have to hear of this relationship sooner rather than later. His next birthday might be too far away, and she wasn't about to lie, she was scared.

* * *

Kim stretched his arms up over his head, and glanced over at the brunette beauty that was busy surfing around on her phone. Today she was dressed in something he rarely saw her wear, a lavender sweater dress paired with black leggings and on her feet were matching black socks. He smiled as he watched her, how perfectly her hair framed her face and the expression playing upon her face which indicated she was deep in thought. Her brow was furrowed and her mouth was twisted into a combination of puckered lips and a half frown.

"What are you looking at?"

"Baby stuff," Lynette replied as she browsed.

Kim chuckled as he sat next to her, "really? We just found out a week ago and you're looking at baby stuff? Don't worry about that right now. Just focus on keeping yourself healthy."

"Well yeah that's a priority. I also don't want Jagged buying too much stuff for the baby," Lynette admitted.

Kim quirked a brow and asked, "And since your parents cut you off how are you planning to pay for things? God knows I don't make enough to buy everything the kid's gonna need."

Lynette bit her lip for a while before suggesting, "I could ask M. Agreste if he'd be willing to take me on as a model. I don't love it, but it'd be enough to support the two of us, I could even put myself through college that way."

Kim quirked a brow and shrugged, "What would you study?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking something in law. Civil rights attourney or paralegal," Lynette revealed. She smirked, "No need to wonder about your lifelong dream job."

"Guilty. I'd love to play professional soccer, but if I couldn't do that, I guess being a physical education teacher wouldn't be too bad, or a personal trainer," Kim admitted.

"As long as it involves sports, Le Chein Kim is in," Lynette joked.

"Hell yeah! Well, sports and you," Kim confessed, he felt a familiar stirring in his stomach as he watched his girlfriend, if it was possible she'd become even more attractive in the past week. He decided he'd try to find out now and asked, "Did you want always want to study law?"

Lynette shook her head 'no', "No, at one point I thought I'd want to be a doctor or a nurse. But then doctors kinda screwed me up."

"Are you still taking the medication?"

Lynette's eyes grew wide as she shook her head 'no', "Not a chance. Are you kidding me? Jagged is totally against it. No."

Kim smiled as he wrapped his arms around Lyn and cuddled her to his chest, "that's why you're more like yourself lately."

Lynette smiled and nodded as she nuzzled into Kim. Lynette smiled as she kissed Kim's nose. Kim smiled then hesitated as he looked at Lynette's lips. He bit his lip a little before glancing at her.

The girl giggled as she perched herself on his lap, her feet dangling over his legs in front of her body and wrapped her arms around his neck, "It's going to be pretty boring if I'm always the one initiating the kisses you know?"

Kim responded by pressing his lips against hers. She immediately responded to his kiss, and he felt her relaxing into it, melting into him.

The teenaged male gently rubbed Lynette's back as he ran his tongue along her lips, he sensed her hesitating before opening her mouth. Cautiously he slipped his tongue in and gently explored her mouth. Lynette mimicked his administrations a second later. Kim groaned into the kiss as he pulled away, resting his head on her shoulder while nuzzling into her neck.

' _I want her so bad, but I just can't. Not after what she's been through. I don't even dare handle it myself, not here,'_ Kim thought to himself as he breathed deeply and steadily trying to calm himself.

"Are you alright?"

Kim nodded as he replied, "I'm okay."

"Liar. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just my body doing its thing," Kim admitted with a slight blush.

"Oh," Lynette replied as she moved to leave his lap, she was a bit shocked when Kim's strong arms held her in place.

"Stay. It's nothing you did. Well, something we did really, but I'm not gonna stop kissing you over it. I can handle it I just need a minute, shifting kinda makes that difficult though," Kim pleaded.

"I-I don't—I don't want to make it worse," Lynette confessed.

"You're not," Kim promised, he bit his lip as he asked, "I don't expect you to do anything about it just—does it gross you out?"

Lynette shook her head 'no', "no. I'm kind of in different to it, if I'm honest. I know it's something that just happens but I don't really care one way or the other. I know you wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with."

Kim chuckled and nodded, "I promise, I'll let you make the first moves… except for deepening the kiss earlier maybe I shouldn't have but… your mouth tastes good."

Lynette chuckled and shrugged, "It wasn't that bad."

"Not great though?"

"No," Lynette agreed Kim held Lynette close to him as he shifted on her bed, laying down on it and bringing Lynette with him to lay at his side.

He then looked at her as he asked, "fair compromise?"

Lynette nodded as she cuddled into her boyfriend, didn't keep her hips away from his but didn't intentionally make contact either.

"I trust you," Lynette said "—and I love you."

Kim smiled as he kissed the back of Lynette's hand, "I love you too. Can't have love without trust."

Lynette nodded and giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"It's a little ridiculous, how happy you make me," Lynette replied.

Kim laughed before remarking, "that one swings both ways."

Lynette laughed at his phrasing, causing Kim to blink, "You caught that innuendo?"

His girlfriend kept giggling as she nodded, Kim chuckled a bit, before admitting, "Not the only way I swing both ways though."

This caused the giggling to ease, Kim felt the coldness of fear wash over him and he suddenly dreaded looking her way. Now he'd done it. He'd been trying to figure out how to tell her since they started hanging out at school again, and now he'd gone and done it.

Lynette gently kissed his cheek reassuringly as she admitted, "I guessed. I've seen you checking a few guys out. Even if I don't do it, I know what it looks like."

Kim blinked and blushed a little relief over took him but at the same time curiosity gained it's grip as he asked, "You never said anything?"

"I didn't want to push you. It's your choice to when to tell that and to whom you will," Lynette explained.

Kim looked at her, rolling on his side so he was looking her in the eye, "I'll never leave you for someone else though. I don't want anyone else."

Lynette had a nervous expression to her before she asked, "are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive. There's nobody else that knows me like you do. Nobody else so in sync with me," Kim admitted.

He chuckled, "nobody else I'd ever be in hand cuffs with either."

Lynette grabbed her pillow and in one quick motion hit him with it, making the athlete laugh as he brought his arms up to shield himself.


	19. doubts and lack of confidence

Adrien sat on Marinette's chaise, dumbfounded as he looked at the test in his hands. Positive. Positive, the test was _positive_.

"Adrien? Please say something," Marinette's quiet voice pleaded.

"I'm going to be a Daddy," Adrien breathed, his voice was barely a whisper. He broke out into a smile at the thought, "I'm going to be a Daddy."

"Umm, I think you're kind of forgetting a few things here? Like your Dad doesn't even know about us, and the cost of raising a child," Marinette listed off.

"Marinette, it's okay. It's all going to be okay," Adrien soothed as he moved off the chaise and wrapped his arms around her, being mindful of her abdomen.

"How is it going to be okay?"

"It will. No matter what, I'm staying. You got that? If that means I have to be a cashier at a McDonald's than fine. The two of you are stuck with me," Adrien vowed.

Marinette couldn't really see Adrien punching items into a cash register, the idea made her wince. She then suggested, "Maybe you could get signed onto another modeling agency."

"Truth is Marinette, I don't hate modeling but I wouldn't want to make a career of it," Adrien admitted.

Adrien glanced at his phone when it meowed at him.

"The same alert tone, really?"

Adrien shrugged as he looked at the message, "Well looks like Lynette's got the same idea. She wants to know if my Dad might hire her on as a model since she has experience, despite the fact that she's pregnant.

Marinette blinked before voicing a realization, "Oh shit. Our babies are going to be born around the same time. I mean assuming one of us isn't early and the other isn't late."

Adrien quirked a brow, "Even a month apart is still pretty close."

Marinette nodded then giggled a bit, "Poor Alya, having to deal with two pregnant friends at once."

"Yeah, poor Alya, and poor us guys—honestly, those pregnancy hormones from what I've learned in sex ed can be quite the trip," Adrien remarked.

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it. I cried last night because we were out of dill pickles. I cried over pickles!"

Adrien's eyes widened his sole thought being, _'oh boy this is going to be fun.'_

* * *

"Well, if you're going to start thinking about a nursery, let's pick a theme first," Kim suggested.

"A theme? I'm trying to figure out a colour scheme," Lynette admitted.

"Well let's tackle both then," Kim proposed as he looked over Lynette's shoulder at the baby furniture.

"Well for starters, a basic chestnut wood crib would probably go with a lot more than a white crib, or a cherry wood. Plus if we go with a theme that's mainly white it'll stand out against the bed spread," Kim offered.

Lynette raised her eyebrows as she glanced over her shoulder at Kim, "Been studying your mom's interior design portfolio?"

Kim shrugged with a smug smirk as he replied, "I pick up on a few things, and look a basic wooden crib would also go well with most shades of pink, purple, and blue."

Lynette nodded in agreement, "chestnut wood it is. Geez, Le Chien Kim, you're full of surprises."

Kim chuckled as he settled in next to Lynette, "I have to be if I want to keep up with you."

"Thanks," Lynette responded, knowing full well that was as much a compliment to her own competitive nature as a statement of their compatibility. She drove him to be even more competitive and he liked it. So much information packed into one sentence.

"Alright so are we going gender neutral or do you want gender specific colours?"

Lynette bit her lip a little as she thought to herself, "well—I mean gender specific is nice and all but I'd like to be able to reuse the bedding and such if I do decide to have another baby down the road. It's okay to use gender specific if you're sure it'll be your only child but I don't know that for sure. I like green."

"Green's good," Kim agreed before adding, "I was also thinking grey. Maybe green bedding and grey walls, or vice versa?"

"Let's see what we can find," Lynette suggested as she put their colour preferences into the website's filter options and searched.

Her eyes widened and welled up instantly at one of the results, "Oh my gosh! That is too cute!"

Kim blinked at how watery her eyes had gotten, was she really going to cry over a cute bedding set? Oh dear this was going to be interesting.

"Kim, look! Koalas!"

 _'Koalas? She's going gaga over koalas? Wow, pregnant Lynette was quite different from typical Lynette,'_ Kim thought to himself as he watched her for a moment before looking at the bedding she was ready to cry over.

"Well, it isn't overly expensive. I could buy it right now," Kim stated.

Lynette gave him a startled look,"No. No, you can't!"

Her boyfriend gave her a confused look as he asked, "Why not? I'm this baby's father, aren't I?"

"I—uhh I mean – that's—"

Kim waited with baited breath for her answer.

"Biologically, no," Lynette admitted, she hesitated before adding, "we're so young, what if you change your mind? I can't ask you to take that responsibility on when it isn't even your kid."

Kim blinked at her with a blank expression on his face, wordlessly he got up from the bed and gathered his backpack, "I said it before, 'it grows in your womb, it grows in my heart.' I meant it. It isn't like I didn't have time to think before you took that test, Lyn. I thought about it the whole way to the hospital the day you were attacked. I thought about it non-stop for the whole month."

He looked to her and Lynette felt her heart sink into her stomach at the sight of his glassy eyes.

"It's my kid too. Whether their DNA matches mine or not. I am that baby's father as long as you'll have me. So am I to take it now that you won't?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Lynette whispered.

"I just—I dragged you into this. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be thinking about all of this stuff. Maybe it'd be better if I didn't have thi-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Kim growled out.

Lynette bit her lip as she continued on, "-I can see you giving up your dreams for us – for me—for it. I can't stand that thought," Lynette confessed her own tears cascading down her cheeks.

Kim walked back over to her, setting his backpack down on the floor once again and took Lynette's hand into his own, "You're worth it, if I did do that. The thought hadn't crossed my mind though. I asked what you want to do so I'd know how much time you'll need to study, so I can arrange to be there and if not me then someone we both know and trust."

"I'm scared," Lynette breathed.

"I am too, but we're in this together," Kim assured.

"You didn't even like me until after-"

Kim gained a rosy blush to his cheeks as he replied with full honesty, "That isn't true. I started to really like you before this whole mess began. You remember the previous night before our little one was conceived? Riding our bikes to the air port, racing each other there?"

Lynette quirked a brow, "Are you kidding me?"

Kim smiled shyly as he began to sing off key and in a flat tone, "There was something about the way the blue lights were shining, bringing out the freedom in your eyes. I was too busy watching you goin' wild child to be worried about going to jail. You were thinking that runnin' for it would make a good story, I thought you were crazy as hell. You were so innocent, but you were stealing my heart, I fell in love in the back of a cop car."

Lynette giggled happily as she shook her head, "Kim, you're a total sap."

"But?"

"Don't give up sports for a singing career, you'd starve," she told him with a smug smirk. Kim rolled his eyes before tickling Lynette's ribs, it wasn't long before she and Kim fell onto the mattress again, Kim continuing to tickle her. The brunette girl laughed until she felt her ribs beginning to hurt, and gasped for air. That's when Kim decided to stop tickling her.

Blue eyes met brown as she asked, "Do you mean it?"

Kim nodded as he answered, "I love you. Everything about you, even your lack of confidence."

"I do not lack confidence," Lynette lied, rolling her eyes.

"Liar," Kim challenged.

"Oh okay buster, how do I lack confidence?"

"You don't see your own beauty," Kim revealed.

Lynette opened her mouth to protest but quickly realized it was futile. He knew her too well. Her likes, her dislikes, her fears, how to break her into talking when she wanted to clam up, defeated she heaved a heavy sigh and admitted, "guilty."


	20. names

The next three months went by fairly fast for Lynette and Marinette, soon they were four months along in their pregnancies. Marinette's doctor had confirmed she was actually only a week behind Lynette. While rumours began to spread like wild fire through the school the rest of their group tried to keep things as quiet as possible about Lynette's situation. Marinette wasn't as nervous about confirming that Adrien was the father of her child. Currently it was winter break. Marinette and Lynette were sitting at a café. Marinette had a cup of decaf tea in front of her while Lynette was desperately attempting to pace herself with a cup of hot chocolate.

Marinette looked over to Lynette knowing that their anatomy ultrasounds were coming up soon and asked, "Are you going to find out?"

Lynette shrugged, "I haven't quite decided. It would help with getting clothes for the baby, I'll admit that but I'm really not sure. I'd like it to be a surprise."

Marinette giggled and nodded in agreement, "I'm not sure if I want to know either. Though we know if it's a boy his name is going to be Louis. I like Emma for a girl, but Adrien doesn't."

"Emma sounds English," Lynette pointed out, "What about Emmeline?"

"Adrien was saying Louise for a girl, but I don't know," Marinette replied with a shrug, "Emmeline might work but then you're using Madeleine for a girl, right?"

"I don't know—if I'm honest I still want to use Victoire, after Kim's sister but I'm not sure I can convince him to do that," Lynette admitted.

"Kim has a sister?"

"Had a sister," Lynette corrected, "She passed away when we were eight years old. Kim took it pretty hard."

"Oh wow," Marinette replied, softly, "I can't imagine. She must've been young."

"She was sixteen, so about our age. She was twice Kim's age because their mom had gotten pregnant when she was young. Her boyfriend didn't' stick around so Kim's Dad stepped up and they never told Victoire that Chein was her step-father, far as he was concerned she was his daughter. There was no other way around it. Once we're a bit older Kim's thinking of adopting the baby so he can legally say he is the father without using the term 'step-father'. But that's a ways off still," Lynette revealed.

Marinette smiled and nodded, "Sounds like Kim is just like his Dad then," She concluded.

Lynette nodded as she placed a hand over her stomach, "So glad the morning sickness is over though."

"Lucky you. I still get nauseous every time I smell bread—and I live above my family's bakery," Marinette growled.

Lynette felt her eyes widen while commenting, "that's a dictionary definition of 'torture'."

Marinette nodded, "And then there's the frequent washroom breaks."

"Tell me about it, it's like my bladder got replaced with an orange and it's only going to get worse," Lynette agreed.

Marinette groaned, "And the cravings are torture. I think I've ate more red meat in the last week than I did last year."

Lynette giggled and nodded, "I hear you. This one just wants sugar. Nothing but sugar whether it's from sweets or fruit. Needless to say I tend to avoid bakeries and just indulge in fruit."

Marinette let a small laugh escape her, "but I love designing the baby's clothes. I could do a few for you as well?"

"Sure! Gender neutral though," Lynette replied enthusiastically.

The aspiring fashion designer smiled brightly and gave a nod of her head, I'm going to be focusing a bit more on a specific gender if I find out which one this little one is.

"You know, one thing about using Louis or Louise for the baby depending on its gender, you could refer to the baby as "Baby Lou" even if you don't know if it's a boy or a girl," Lynette suggested.

Marinette shook her head 'no', "no, I think I'm going to see how Adrien feels about Emmeline. I always wanted a little girl that I could call Em or Emmy."

Lynette made an agreeing sound as she sipped her hot chocolate.

"Lynette?"

"Hmm?"

"I know it isn't the same as my situation, but—well on a selfish note—I'm glad I'm not the only one going through this," Marinette confessed.

Lynette gave a small smile and nodded her agreement, "It makes things a little easier being able to share with someone that does actually understand."

Marinette gave a smile in response.

"I have no idea what I'd name a boy, that's kind of up to Kim in a way," Lynette added.

Marinette blinked a little, "really?"

Lynette visibly squirmed under Marinette's gaze, "If I'm honest—I never thought I'd be a mom. Not like this. I thought maybe I'd adopt, but having a baby? I couldn't imagine myself pregnant, but here I am, four months along. Life just throws curve balls, you know? I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong but I have absolutely no idea what to name a little boy. I always thought if I had a son he'd have a name when I became his mom and I wouldn't have to think about it."

Marinette nodded a bit, "I see."

"I also like Celestine, Lucille, Genevieve, and Angelique. I've thought of using either Marinette or Adrien as a middle name, kind of why I don't want to use Madeleine anymore," Lynette revealed.

Marinette's jaw dropped at hearing this however and found herself stuttering, "y-you wa-want to n-na-name your baby after A-a-adrien and me? Why?"

"Aside from Kim the two of you were the ones that have done the most to help me. Not just with the pregnancy but with my prior situation as well," Lynette replied.

Thankfully Lynette's parents had confessed to the abuse they'd put her through, sparing her a trial. Sebastien however they had no clue on, as such the guys in their circle rarely let Lynette out anywhere without one of them, Alix and Alya were just as bad and while Marinette was expecting herself she'd taken to carrying a taser and pepper spray in her purse. Lynette herself carried pepper spray and wished she could legally carry a concealed weapon, fearing pepper spray would not be enough to fend off Sebastien if he attacked her. However she also didn't like the idea of using a taser which could be used against her and risk the baby. The rule was always the same though, neither girl was permitted to leave on their own without a non-pregnant escort.

Marinette was thoughtful for a moment before suggesting, "You know, if you did give her my name as a middle name, I don't think she'd need a long first name. It might be a bit much."

Lynette was pensive for a moment before nodding in acknowledgement as she finished her hot chocolate, "You're probably right."

"We're thinking Louis Adrien Agreste for a boy, but I'm thinking if it's a girl Emmeline Sabine Agreste," Marinette revealed.

Lynette smiled and nodded, "I always liked the name Aimée, maybe Aimée Marinette Montclair would be fitting."

Marinette smiled broadly, "I like that one."

From the other side of the café a dark clothed, hooded figure watched the two women, eyeing their baby bumps and smirking to himself as he sipped steaming liquid from his cup.


	21. Aimée or Etienne

RoseTiger: Yes, a creepy stalker. Who is he? Why is he there? Most importantly, what does he want?

AN: It's Thanksgiving in Canada on Monday. It's also my birthday so if I don't update, that's why. Don't count me down and out ;) Also, please remember to vote on my poll on my profile. Should Lynette have a baby boy? A baby girl? Surprise twins? You can have a say with that poll, so cast your vote and I will include it in the story. Blue or pink, what do you think?

* * *

The two girls smiled and giggled as they made their way out from the café, Nathanael and Alix were waiting to walk back home with Marinette and Lynette respectively.

Marinette waved to Lynette as she headed home with Nathanael escorting her, Lynette headed in the opposite direction with Alix. The pink haired girl looked over to Lynette as she asked, "how've you been?"

"Oh, starting to get a bit achy. I'll be glad to be rid of the cravings when this is all over though," Lynette admitted with a laugh.

Alix's eyes went a bit wide as she replied, "I'd bet."

"So I kinda wonder why are you still modeling? I mean I get that you're modeling now for the Gabriel brand, that's totally cool of M. Agreste to allow you to, but why?"

"I need money for the baby and myself, modeling isn't something I want to make a career out of. It's okay but it isn't something I wanna do when I'm fifty, you know? I want to help people. People like me, and others that have been abused or discriminated against. I want them to see justice and have the chance to heal from that," Lynette replied.

Alix regarded her for a while before commenting, "you're tough. I can see why Kim's crazy about you."

"I'm crazy about him. I honestly never thought it would happen," Lyn confessed with a slight blush.

Alix smirked a bit. Lynette gained a startled expression as she asked, "hold up. You have a thing for Kim?"

"Nah, not a 'thing', really. I had a crush on him once, and I think he had a crush on me, I realize though that he saw a few of your traits in me and that's likely what drew him in. It's cool. We're cool," Alix answered.

Lynette smiled a bit and nodded, "thanks."

"No sweat," Alix responded with a wave of her hand as the two walked.

She smiled as she handed Lynette a small gift bag, covered in lambs. Lynette looked at her quizzically, "what is this?"

"Just a little something for the baby that I picked up. I know the kid's due in July but still thought it would be pretty good for him or her," Alix revealed with a shrug.

Lynette smiled and gave Alix a side hug. The thin girl smiled as she returned the gesture, suddenly Lynette's hand flew to the side of her stomach, her eyes wide.

"Are you alright?"

Without a word Lynette grabbed the other girl's hand and placed it where her own hand had flown. The girls waited for a moment before Alix began to laugh, her eyes growing wide, "Oh my god! It's moving."

Lynette nodded as she glanced at her stomach, "yeah. They're really in there."

Alix chuckled as she moved her hand from Lynette's stomach and shook her head, "Wow. That's incredible. Absolutely incredible."

"Oh wow, that was like butterflies in my stomach usually but that kick was just so much stronger," Lynette stated as they walked.

"What are you gonna do about school next year?"

"Well, I've done home schooling before, Jagged is willing to hire a private tutor so I can keep up with my studies, and Kim's mom is willing to babysit while I'm at school. I haven't decided which path I'm going to take but there's options," Lynette answered with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Alix bit her lip a little as she glanced behind them.

"What?"

Alix shook her head as she turned to face the direction of Lynette's home again, "thought I heard something."

"Hmm," Lynette mused admitting, "I was a little surprised to see you. I thought Kim was picking me up?"

"Well, he was but he wanted to surprise you with something," Alix revealed.

Lynette quirked a brow as she confessed, "I must admit I don't know if I should be excited or frightened."

Alix gave a hearty laugh as the two of them walked up to Jagged's house. "Well, you're here. My job for the day is done," the pinkette joked.

"Haha," Lynette joked back.

Alix gave her a light playful punch to her arm before walking away from Lynette. The brunette walked past the gates of Jagged's home and headed into the elaborate manor.

The smell of fresh paint reached her nose the moment she walked in through the front door, following the scent she found herself in the nursery across from her bedroom, painting equiptment laying about the floor, the baseboards taped off, and newspapers covering the hardwood floors. Kim spun around when he heard the door open he blushed a little as he greeted her, "hey—uhh not quite how I wanted it when you saw it"

Lynette glanced around the room, it was painted a light slate grey on all four walls and glancing over Lyn saw the wall boarder laying on the floor at the center of the room, going over to it she picked it up and gasped, baby Koalas clinging to a tree branch with green leaves. Lynette bit her lip.

"Is that the right one?"

Lynette nodded, as she wiped away her tears, "they're happy tears."

Kim chuckled as he kissed her fore head, "I'm glad. Get out of here. We don't need junior breathing in the fumes."

Lynette gave a small laugh and nodded, "yeah."

She headed off to her bedroom across the hall, "staying for dinner?"

"Yeah," Kim agreed as he gave her a smile. Lynette smiled as she walked into her bedroom across the hall. Lynette sat on the bed and pulled out the book they were supposed to read over winter break. She hadn't felt it was very long before Kim came in and went into her washroom to shower. After he was cleaned he came over to her and sat on the bed.

He gently laid next to her and asked, "what do you think of Etienne Adrien Montclair?"

Lynette thought for a moment before replying, "I think it fits. Aimée Marinette Montclair?"

Kim smiled and nodded, "I like it. And best of all she'd have her own name."

He didn't get a response, he chuckled as he placed a hand on his girlfriend's swollen abdomen, "I'm excited to meet you. Find out your likes and dislikes. I promise you, no matter if you're Aimée or Etienne, I'll each you any sport you want to learn. If you're into dance, I'll be at every lesson, every recital. I'll cheer for you at every game. I love you so much."

He gasped and looked to Lynette with a shocked expression, "was that—did—did the baby—"

"It kicked," Lynette confirmed with a smile. Kim bit his lip as his eyes welled up, "it's the most beautiful thing I've ever felt."

Lynette smiled at her boyfriend, who knew the jock had such a soft heart? It was truly endearing to watch him interact with her baby bump and the child within. Kim stayed until after dinner and Lynette nearly fell asleep at the table. He walked her back to her room and stood with his back to her while she changed into her pajamas. The Vietnamese male looked her over, in her blue flannel pajamas he could only imagine cuddling up to her closely all night, but he had work in the morning. He instead opted for kissing her good night and tucking her into bed before making his way home.

Lynette stretched as the morning sun fell across her face she rolled over in bed and carefully maneuvered herself up into a sitting position. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of something on her night table, wiping the sleep from her eyes she looked over again and gasped. A purple glass vase and within that vase was half a dozen dying roses, on the vase was a small white square of paper, grasping it Lynette read the scrawled writing, _'Give it up, or this will be your baby.'_

The paper began to tremble, it took a moment for the teenager's brain to register that it was her hand that was trembling as droplets of water began to drop onto her pajama bottoms, only then did she realize she'd begun to cry.

Standing from her position the raced from the room screaming for Penny and Jagged, the decaying wilted roses losing their petals onto the night table.

* * *

AN: Okay guys so remember, baby gender poll! I want your views/opinions/requests/whatever you wish to call it. It's something you can have a say in with the story. :) Let's get voting! Little Aimee, or a little Etienne? Maybe surprise twins? You vote, you decide.


	22. Paul Kirby

Jagged sat on the living room couch, Lynette wrapped protectively in his arms, he'd forced her head to his chest to listen to his heart beating, recalling as Kim had that heart beats often soothed her when she felt the most frantic or vulnerable.

Penny was speaking with Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix about the vase and how the security cameras had been disrupted late in the night. Though it pained Jagged to even think it, moving Lynette to another location might be in her best interest, the rock and roller thought to himself, but first there was something she deserved to know.

"Lynette, did you ever hear your parents talking about you?"

Lynette bit her lip and shrugged, "they talked about a lot of things."

"Well this would particularly involve you and your father-" Jagged began he felt his mouth go dry and swallowed his saliva to wet his throat before continuing, "-you see, my birth name is Paul Kirby. I legally changed it to my stage name, Jagged Stone when I was twenty-one, roughly around the time that I found out your mum had you."

Lynette giggled, "Well trying to become a rock and roll sensation with a name like Paul Kirby would be a bit difficult. I keep imaging the pink Kirby cartoon."

Jagged regarded the teenaged girl before asking, "Lynette, did Charles ever mention me?"

Lynette gave a heavy sigh, "Yes. He said you went to school with them—and that he wasn't my real father that a guy named Paul was."

Her eyes widened as she looked to Jagged and blinked repeatedly before whispering, "No way."

"Your mum did a good job of hiding your real paternity from you, but she also made sure that your real father was always in contact and always watchful if you needed him, even made it so that if something happened to her and Charles, your birth father, myself, would be the one to raise you," Jagged confirmed.

Lynette swallowed hard, her mom was a well-known fashion designer, her father was a famous rock and roller, and she just wanted to be a paralegal.

As if he could sense her thoughts Jagged hooked a finger under Lynette's chin, forcing her to look him in the face as he informed her, "I don't care if you want to be famous. I don't care if you want to model, I don't care if you want to raise a herd of Tigers for a living, as long as you're happy and enjoy what you do. That's what matters to me."

Lynette felt a smile immediately spread across her face as she hugged the man she now knew to be her father.

"You truly are my miracle, Lynette, your mum is the only person I've ever been with," Jagged admitted.

At this information, Lynette's head snapped up so that blue eyes met green as she asked, "is that why you knew what I was going through?"

Jagged nodded in confirmation of her suspicion, then with a mournful gaze and a remorseful tone added, "I can't wait to be a grandfather to your baby. I didn't get to see you too much, given the circumstances but I thought Janine and Charles were better suited to raise you, they could certainly devote more time and attention to you than I could, that much was for certain. I was working 18 or 20 hours a day back then. I'd only stop to eat and nap, I never really slept. Much as it hurts me to admit that."

"Without that sacrifice though, I wouldn't be able to do all that I am able to now. So a bit of a trade off in the end, isn't it?"

Lynette blinked a bit before giggling, "Well, I guess we'll both be green horns at this then?"

Jagged nodded, "You got it love, but we'll figure it out."

Lynette thought for a moment before asking, "Umm, super personal question, I know but—you're the only one I know that's like me—how did you—I mean, how am I—err—uhh—"

Jagged chuckled a bit at how awkward his offspring was regarding a simple question and gave her a sympathetic look, "well, for one it took a lot of focus to try to keep things going to the end of the performance. Second, while your mum and I had been a bit of an on and off thing for a while—I broke it off that night. I loved her, who she was, but I knew trying a repeat performance would be taxing. I wasn't sure I could keep her happy."

"I worry about that too," Lynette admitted with a heavy sigh, "I mean, Kim and I—he's the polar opposite of me. How can I keep things going with him when I—I just don't care about— _that_? I love him. We've always been close but—"

"If he loves you back, you'll be able to find a way," Jagged advised.

He gave her a small smile, "Ultimately that's the big reason I broke things off with your mum. I loved her, but to her I was just someone with similar dreams, wanting to make a name for myself so she thought we should be together. Not quite how things work in the real world. I would've been happy to cuddle with her and kiss her while she satisfied her own needs but doing more than that was a bit much for me."

' _Maybe Kim and I could do something similar,'_ Lynette thought to herself.

"Anything else?"

Lynette shook her head 'no', as Penny entered the living room and relayed to them, "they're searching for signs of forced entry, finger prints and the like but so far they haven't seen anything to indicate that something had gone amiss from the outside of the house."

Jagged nodded with a smile, "Alright, Penny thank you."

The dark toned woman regarded Lynette for a minute before looking to Jagged, "You told her?"

"About me, yes," Jagged stated.

"If there's more, slam it onto me now," Lynette coaxed.

"Well, you see, my relationship with your father isn't strictly professional, although we keep it a well guarded secret," Penny hinted.

Lyn thought for a moment before realization dawned on her, and her mouth made an 'o' shape.

"Lieutenant Raincomprix also suggested that for the time being we move Lynette somewhere else," Penny concluded.

"I was thinking that would happen," Jagged admitted as he stretched his arms.

"Well anywhere my family goes, I'm going as well," He decided.


	23. Pizza toppings

AN: Okay guys, as it stands there's only one vote in the poll. I realize some of you who read these chapters on your hand held devices (like phones as an example) and use the website, not the app, may not see the poll. So if you go to my profile and don't see the poll, let's do this: vote in your review. Do you want to see Lynette have a baby boy? Should she have a baby girl? Should she have one of each? Let me know! I'm gonna close the poll and put it into the story in the next few chapters. I'm trying to give you guys ample time to vote!

* * *

Angry, no, not even just 'angry'. Seething with rage was the only way Max could describe his friend as he watched the towering Jock's facial expression. A vase of dead flowers accompanying a threatening note sent to his girlfriend? Max couldn't begin to imagine how his best friend felt. He knew how defensive he felt and that alone was saying quite a bit with his pacifist nature.

Adrien kept quiet as he watched Kim, silently evaluating his fellow father-to-be. If this was in fact Marinette that had received such a parcel he wasn't sure he'd be holding his temper as well as Kim currently was.

Then a thought crossed his mind, the girls. The girls were why Kim was staying calm and collected. Kim had seen his parents interact in times like these, where his mother would receive threats about her designs and though his father was angry someone would dare do this to his wife, he remained calm to support her and carry her through.

Adrien glanced over at the boy who was currently leaned against Lynette's bed while the pregnant brunette slept soundly and quietly asked, "Kim, you want to go for a run?"

Kim hesitated before shaking his head 'no'.

"I'll stay with her," Max offered.

Kim shot his friend a disapproving gaze that one would have to be blind to misinterpret. While Max was a genius, unrivaled in intellectual engagements, physical altercations were a completely different story. If it came down to Max or Lynette fighting, Max would be out in one hit, Lynette would fight to keep awake and defend herself to her last breath.

Kim wasn't going to leave her vulnerable.

"Then let Adrien stay and go race me for a bit," Alix offered.

"You'd crack your skull on your blades," Kim scoffed.

"Who said anything about blades? Race me on foot. One on one, how about it? Make it interesting even, loser buys pizza for the whole group," Alix challenged.

Kim gained a small smirk before agreeing, "You're on!"

He glanced to Adrien who gave a small nod to indicate he was staying put. He couldn't leave Lynette like this, there was no way that was going to happen. She was tough but the girl wasn't a cyborg made of steel. She had her frail moments, he knew she had to. Every human does and she was no exception even if she was too stubborn to admit it.

"Mari's the same, so you know," Adrien offered with Kim's silent inner conflict.

"Huh?"

"She is. She's always being strong for everyone else around her. She hates admitting when she needs help. I keep reminding her she's only human after all, she'll have moments when she needs help just like everyone else," Adrien confided.

"Go for the run. They're safe here," Adrien coaxed.

Alix's brow knitted in slight confusion, "Where is Marinette anyways?"

"The bakery with her parents, she's fine," Adrien replied.

Alix nodded as she headed out of the room, Kim following behind her until he stopped and glanced back at Adrien, "Thanks. I mean it."

"You're not the only one in this with her, Kim. We're all here," Adrien assured him. The athlete nodded before following his pink haired competitor out of the manor. They did a quick stretch warm up before breaking into a run down the side walk. It didn't even occur to Kim that they hadn't decided on a path to run.

* * *

Adrien watched as Lynette gently rubbed her eyes as she woke up, she sat up and glanced around.

"Is Kim okay?"

Adrien nodded, "He needed to go clear his head though. He didn't want to leave but Alix and I talked him into it. He's racing her right now, and I said I'd stay here."

Max watched as Lynette maneuvered herself into a seated position before carefully bringing her legs around to the side of the bed. Everything about her movements was calculated as if subconsciously searching for the best way to move to achieve her goal with minimal effort or strain.

"Are you hurting somewhere?"

Lynette shook her head 'no', "I'm okay. I'm just really conscious of the baby now."

Adrien smiled and nodded a bit, "Marinette's the same. Every single thing she does, she's worried about the baby."

Lynette gave a small grin, gently running her hand over her slightly bulging stomach, "I sometimes can't believe it even now, difference now being all I have to do is look down and I can see for myself that I am in fact with child."

Adrien nodded, "Any ideas on boys names yet?"

"Etienne," Lynette replied with a smile and a small nod of her head.

"So it's either Aimee or Etienne for you, and Emmeline or Louis for us," Adrien replied with a small chuckle.

"Wouldn't it be cool if they grow up to be friends?"

Adrien nodded in silent agreement.

"Friendship is much more likely than the prospect of the two offspring becoming romantic partners," Max stated.

Lynette fought the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. She liked Max, she really did, but did he have to know the probability for every single situation? The guy was a walking encyclopedia of calculations.

"Well whoever loses the race has to buy pizza for everyone, I don't know about you guys but I just plain ol' pepperoni," Adrien spoke in effort to change the topic.

Lynette felt her mouth water, "Hmm yeah, with some bacon, Italian sausage, steak strips, ham, oh! Pineapple and green pepper on it as well, maybe some anchovies on a few slices too just so you guys don't get stuck with them."

'That's a very high amount of protein,' Max thought to himself.

Adrien swallowed a little bit of saliva from his mouth before asking, "I thought you were kind of vegetarian?"

"No, I just don't eat a lot of meat, usually. But I'm craving it like crazy. Hey do they put tofu on pizza? Maybe a fried egg," Lynette answered before rambling off more toppings.

"This isn't New York," Adrien pointed out.

Lynette pouted and nodded.

"But, I could cook up some tofu and eggs for you to put on your pizza slices," Max offered as compromise.

Lynette perked up again, "alright! I can work with that."


	24. Amazing Friend

Kim sat at the table, eagerly devouring his third slice of meat heavy pizza, Alix had only ate half of hers, Lynette had ate the other half. The rest of the group had a single slice each, all of them finding that even though they considered themselves to be fans of meat lovers pizza these toppings were more along the lines of death by meat pizza.

The cheesy pie was topped with peperoni, bacon, sausage, steak strips, ham, chicken and even ¼ of it contained anchovies as well as green peppers and pineapple. While Kim refused to touch the anchovies, he had suggested adding the grilled chicken to the pizza as well.

"All of that protein? She's got to be having a boy," Alix commented.

Adrien shrugged, "I don't know. Marinette's had a few protein cravings too but usually for fish."

"Hmmm, Salmon would've been good on this too," Lynette mused.

That caused Max to finally quirk an eyebrow at his best friend's expecting girlfriend. He could tell by how Kim was eating this was going to be his final slice of pizza. Lynette was also placing a fried egg on each pizza slice a long with some tofu that Max had cooked up just for her.

Jagged had turned his nose up at the pizza when it came and once Lynette had said that she was having a craving for meat, he'd smiled, kissed his daughter's forehead and made himself vegetable stirfry.

Kim finished his third slice of pizza and watched Lynette finally place a hand on her stomach and give a contented sigh. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he remarked, "Last time I saw you keep up with me at a table we were nine years old."

Lynette rolled her eyes, "Haha, you're hilarious. It's called a growth spurt, M. Le, and I think the tyke's going through one."

"Sure, blame the kid," Kim joked.

Adrien smiled and shook his head at the two, they were impossibly sweet with each other.

"Well, I should probably head back," Alix stated as she stretched.

Max nodded his agreement, "Yeah, my parents are probably wondering where I am."

"I'll see you guys home before I head over to Marinette's," Adrien offered as he headed out of the door.

"Uhh, thanks but why Marinette's and not home?"

"Uhh, it's Friday and I'd rather spend the night at my girlfriends," Adrien admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Alix couldn't hide her amazement as she inquired, "Your father permits that?"

"Well shit, Mari's already knocked up what other harm could I possibly cause there? I guess that's the way he looks at it," Adrien replied with a shrug.

Kim nodded in agreement, "Yeah I'm staying tonight too. I'm not chancing something else appearing next to my girl tonight."

Lynette gave a small, almost sheepish smile at the last part of his comment. Adrien chuckled and nodded, "that's the other reason I'm staying with Mari. Whether it's that asshole Sebastien, or some crazed fan that left that little package last night, I'm not chancing the samething happening to Marinette. If she woke up to that she wouldn't sleep the next 20 years until the fuckwit was caught."

Lynette blinked she'd never heard Adrien curse so much before and asked him, "well, Marinette aside, are you alright?"

Adrien nodded a little before admitting, "You know how I am about my friends, Lyn. I'm protective—sometimes over protective—but I can't help it. Truth is I—I'm glad you called me the night that—" he trailed off.

Everyone knew which night they were talking about and he now had four pairs of eyes focused on him as he continued, "—even though everything I've ever felt for you has always been platonic—when you told me – that—I – I wished I'd been there to stop it. I wished I would've gone to check up on you. I felt like I let you down—and now this stuff's happening an—"

"And you're being an amazing friend, like always," Lynette interrupted.

"None of us knew that this was coming. I had a suspicion that I'd be attacked eventually, I had no idea when, or where, or how—part of my mom's crazy ideas to 'fix me'. You can't fix what isn't broken. Each time though, I knew Kim's always been a heavy sleeper, and I knew that you'd be a light sleeper knowing what was going on with me with my parents. That's just who you are, Adrien. You protect everyone around you even if you can't stop bad things from happening, and let's face it nobody can be in six places at the same time, it's humanly impossible, you're still there. You always help pick up the pieces and put them back together. I never once questioned our friendship so don't you dare start, especially from your end," Lyn concluded, her eyes had clouded over a bit with tears at the mentioning of her parents, but her gaze quickly steeled back when she spoke about Adrien. That was enough for him to know it was the truth. Her parents caused her pain, but he didn't at least he didn't have to worry about that.

Adrien gave his signature smile and nodded, "Alright then."

"Wait, if Kim's a heavy sleeper, maybe I should stay too," Alix offered.

Kim shook his head 'no' as he confided, "I've been a light sleeper for the past four months now. Just the sound of wind blowing outside of the window is enough to wake me. I guess it changed me a bit too. I'm never letting anything hurt her again."

Alix gave a smile in acknowledgement and headed out of the door, Adrien and Max followed behind them. While Adrien had been with Lynette that day at Mari's insistence, Alya and Nino had been with Marinette. Adrien knew she was safe. Alya wasn't trained in martial arts but that girl could punch and he knew she wouldn't go down without throwing a few good ones and using whatever improvised weapon she could locate in the heat of a fight.

Kim stood and placed the remaining pizza on a plate, wrapping it with cling wrap before putting it in the fridge. Lynette finished her glass of milk and moaned a little at the sensation of Kim's hands on her shoulders, gently massaging her muscles before moving down her back, paying close attention to areas of her back that emitted higher amounts of heat.

Lynette gave a sigh as she turned her head towards Kim, "what? Trying your hand at foreplay?"

Kim laughed as a small blush tinted his cheeks. He kissed her cheek before replying, "This isn't foreplay. This is relaxing a tense girlfriend."

"Oh?"

"Oh," Kim mimicked before a question crossed his mind and he voiced it, "Why? You want to know what I do for foreplay? Wasn't expecting that from you."

"I did say when you confessed to me that we'd only have sex maybe once or twice a year if we weren't trying to have a child," Lynette pointed out as she turned herself to face him.

"Touché," Kim remarked as he gave her a quick peck on her lips. Lynette wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely.

Kim moaned into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her after a moment he pulled back and asked, "Your room?"

Lynette nodded as she stood from her seat and the two of them headed down the hallway.


	25. future discussion

Very sorry this update took so long. I've had several things happen both professionally and personally. Not the least of which is working on my novel, beyond that I kinda hit a wall with this story but however long it takes writer's block will eventually lift and leave me be. So here it is, enjoy.

* * *

A muffled sound of something falling onto the floor caused Kim's eyes to shoot open as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room he glanced round, keeping his breathing steady.

A frightened voice whispered next to him, "Kim?"

He wordlessly kissed her shoulder blade as a means of reassuring her while his ears stayed on alert to any other noises. When he heard someone in the hallway, he gingerly got out of the bed. Once out from under the blankets, he pulled on his track pants. He went around to Lynette's side of the bed and crouched in front of her, holding a finger up to his lips he gently kissed her forehead before grabbing her steel baseball bat and heading out of the room.

In the dark hallway Kim stayed close to the wall as he made his way towards the living room. He had the bat lowered, and grasped with one hand over the other but spaced a apart like he was getting ready to hit a ball coming towards him. He made his way through the darkness, keeping his back against the wall as he made his way around. In the living room he spotted a figure roughly his height, they were clothed from head to toe. He did his best to keep quiet, not making any sudden noises.

The intruder however must've caught a glimpse of him in the tv screen as they spun around and threw a nearby object at him. Reflexively, Kim brought the baseball bat up and used it to deflect the oncoming projectile. The sound of the ceramic statuette crashing against the hallway floor and shattering reverberated through the hallways. The next thing Kim knew the windows in the living room were covered with steel. The intruder glanced around as well as panic seemed to set into them realizing that they were trapped.

"Tough break, guess the saying's true—crime really doesn't pay," Kim taunted the intruder. Where had that come from? He wasn't normally like that, but he also couldn't stand the thought of Lynette being so frightened. The disguised figure rushed towards Kim, now brandishing some kind of weapon from their pocket. It took Kim a split second to realize what it was.

He evaded the attack and swung the bat, connecting with the elbow which held the steel pocket knife. There was a grunt as the bat connected he then wrapped his arms tightly around the attacker's torso, pinning their arms to their body, his hands were bracing the back of the attacker's neck, pushing their head forward to keep them from being able to head butt him. Sirens could be heard outside, and Kim smirked triumphantly as he announced, "You hear that sound? You're never bothering her again."

The intruder growled lowly in their throat.

Penny rushed into Lynette's room while Jagged approached, visibly on the phone with someone as and held a small rectangular object in his other hand. He pressed a button on the square object and the steel coverings of the windows lifted, showing that the mansion was in fact surrounded by the police department. Jagged hung up the phone and placed his cell phone down on the countertop. He then reached over and removed the intruder's mask revealing jet black hair and dark brown eyes stared back at Jagged.

At that moment Roger Raincomprix entered the mansion and cuffed the teenager, allowing Kim to get a good look at him. Kim's calmed face instantly shifted back to an enraged scowl as he nearly yelled, "you! I should've guessed it was you!"

Sebastien gave a very small nearly unnoticed smirk before announcing to Roger, "I want my lawyer called, immediately."

'How much good would that do you? It's like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar,' Kim thought to himself before he headed back to Lynette's room. He found the door open, and his girlfriend in the arms of her father's assistant, gently cradling her as the pregnant teenager clutched at the red haired woman's pyjama sleeves.

"It's over now, I'll probably have to make a statement at the police station though," Kim announced as he walked over to them. Once he'd sat down he began to gently massage Lynette's back trying to soothe her.

"That can wait until morning. Little brat's been crying for his lawyer, but since this is just a break and entry right now, nobody's willing to wake the lawyer up in the middle of the night," Jagged assured them from the doorway.

"He will spend the night in a cell at least," he concluded.

Lynette nodded her head slowly, and placed Kim's hand over the upper left side of her stomach before looking to him with a smile. Kim chuckled as he rubbed where the baby was kicking and kissed Lynette's cheek murmuring, "that's so amazing."

"You're amazing," Lynette countered before adding, "who else would take on a burden like me and a child they didn't create?"

"You're not a burden, neither's the baby. It'll be difficult, but we're both goal getters. We'll make it work," Kim replied Penny stood from her spot on the bed, walking past Jagged. The rock star waited for a minute before following the woman out and closing the door behind them both. Kim gently wrapped his arms around Lynette and she leaned back into him. The athlete smiled as he buried his nose into the nape of her neck.

"Is it bad that I don't want to leave your arms?"

"No—unless you're gonna pee yourself," Kim replied jokingly.

Lynette giggled and shook her head 'no', "No, that won't happen—well I'm not in danger of it anytime soon."

She bit her lip a little before asking, "Kim—do you want to find out what we're having?"

"I don't care if we find out or not," Kim admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders. He gently kissed her neck.

"You're bad," Lynette accused.

"And you're an angel," Kim teased as he shifted so they were laying down again, but this time with him being on the side of the bed nearest the door. Lynette laid down on her back, using the pillows to elevate her right side a little, so she could pass for saying she was laying on her left side.

"You know—we'll have to see how things play out in the future, but I wouldn't mind going through this with you another two or three times," Kim admitted.

Lynette shot him a death glare before sarcastically replying, "Oh, okay. You carry the last two and I'll carry the first two."

Kim laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "if I could carry them all for the first four and a half months, I would."

Lynette laughed in response, "Not eager to face labour, huh?"

"No—I admit, when it comes to that, I'm a coward," Kim replied, being half serious and still laughing a little.

When the brunette calmed down she shrugged her shoulders and said, "we'll see how things go. Sometimes life just really throws curve balls, no matter how much you plan."

Kim nodded in agreement as he hooked a finger under Lynette's chin and gently kissed her. He felt her responding to his kiss, chaste and quick before he pulled away and confessed, "like you. I've always cared about you—but I never thought I'd fall in love with you."

"Same," Lynette admitted.


End file.
